The Orphans Amoung Us
by Elementalists
Summary: It is the year 2000 when a strange new race of beings come out of hiding. Simply known as Furry they are hunted and killed out of fear. The cubs that managed to survive were put in orphanages and the government kept a watchful eye on them. This is the tale of Sukura and Pengu. Two Furries that dared to love one another no matter what the cost.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

(Sarah)

April 5, 2000

It is snowing outside as I run trying to outpace the gunner behind me holding my son to my chest. I turn on the street corner urging more speed from my tired body as I see the orphanage in sight.

Stooping I placed the freshly born fox on the stoop of the orphanage and kissed his forehead one more time before running off. I hid in an alley nearby and watched as they took my son inside and a single tear fell from my eye as a roar from behind me announced my death. As I took my last breath I took comfort in the fact that my son was safe.

(Myrtle)

I heard the gunshot outside and ran to the front door after telling Agnes to call the police to report a disturbance. I was about to step outside but, I stopped short looking at the strange baby on the door step. I picked it up and it opened its eyes looking at me with wonder and stretching its tiny paws. Behind me I heard Agnes say "I couldn't get through it might be the bad weather." She walked up behind me and peered over my shoulder to see what I was holding. "What is that thing?" she asked backing away hurriedly putting a hand over her mouth to hide her horror. I closed the door and turned around to face her. "It's not a thing. Judging from the color of the blankets I would say we have a young male fox furry." As I spoke I let the young fox wrap its paw around my finger and tug on it. "But what if he is sick? Should we go to a vet and have him get a check up?" she asked moving to stand by my side. I shrugged and said "We should go to the Library. Surely some of the Furries managed to get a book published. That or we can look up books on fox anatomy ourselves."

I headed upstairs and got out the old crib. I dusted it off added some clean sheets and a pillow and then put in the room of Travis a 2-year-old that was snoring beneath his blankets. The hour was growing late so I bid Agnes goodnight and after checking on my other charges and turning off the lights I went to my own small chamber and crawled into bed.

May 15, 2008

Young Sukura has grown up into a strong and healthy furry. He stays to himself and prefers to read and keep out-of-the-way. He is polite and courteous to the other boys and has managed to make friends with Travis who is now 10 Travis has grown into a rather frail boy who been picked on non stop by the older boys. He wears glasses and because of his size has endured a barrage of insults. Sukura's fur is midnight blue and cherry blossom designs are visible on his arms, legs, and the length of his nine tails. He has higher than average strength and has visited the vet once every year. Sometimes the nuns let him hunt the rabbits that dare to enter their garden other times he sneaks out at night and gets on the roof staring at the moon while wondering about his parents. The orphanage boasted a passable playground and that is where we found Sukura today swinging through the air his eyes closed.

(Sukura)

Today was adoption day but, since no one would dare look at a furry boy I decided to stay out of sight. My friend Travis was in the yard and I could tell by the scent throughout the years we had been steadfast friends and he was one of the few humans I dared to trust. Conner the resident bully was also outside. Ever since I can remember Conner has wreaked havoc on the younger orphans here.

Being 14 and convinced that no one would want him, his temper had gone through the roof. Known among the rest of us as the "Ticking Time Bomb" Things would never be good if he was around. Halfway opening my eyes I glanced at the pair warily. As expected Conner started to move towards my friend and I sighed, "The day is going downhill from here. " I thought as at the peak of my swing I used my tails to flip off the seat like a trapeze artist and land in front of Travis on my paws shielding him from Conner. Unfortunately for Conner, his first punch was already in motion and it struck my muzzle with a thud! I yelped in pain and my tails lashed threateningly at Conner who took a step back to deliver yet another punch "Move Fox boy or I will beat you to a pulp!"

I shook my head to clear it and fanned out my tails facing the bully, "Go head and try" Try he did. I was busy blocking punches with my paws as Conner tried his best to pierce my defenses. Travis was cowering behind me as the fight went on finally it stopped when Ms. Myrtle ran out and got between us. My jaw was beginning to swell and I was panting. Conner had bruised knuckles and a red face. From behind us a couple ran up to the scene.

I took one look at them and pushed off hard from the ground propelling myself backwards into the limbs of a nearby tree. Unfortunately, I didn't move fast enough because the two stood with their jaws touching the ground staring at me. I chose to ignore them instead focusing my eyes on Ms. Myrtle. Since I was mostly a polite fox we got along really well. Thought from the look on her face I could tell that she wasn't pleased with the turn of events.

"Sukura get down here!" she said sternly. I sighed and jumped down warily eying the other two humans as I wrapped my tails around my middle to discourage any sudden yank on their part. "Yes Miss?" I asked innocently. "What is going on here?" I raised my eyebrows "Conner tried to Jump Travis and beat him up but, I got in the way." As I spoke I helped Travis to his feet prompting a gasp from the couple behind me. I turned to face them and rubbed my jaw,

"To who do we owe this pleasure?" I gave a slight bow to the adults before straightening up waiting for their reply. They were wearing their Sunday best . The Guy was wearing a classic suit and tie while the woman was in a summer dress covered in flowers and wearing high-heeled shoes. Trying to hide my growing irritation at their silence I turned to Travis.

"I Think you stand a better chance with these two. I'm gonna skip out." I gave my friend a smile and Ms. Myrtle a nod before walking away into the house with the plan of going to my room and locking the door behind me. "Wait!" I stopped in my tracks and ever so slowly turned to face the woman behind me. "Yes?" I asked leaving the question hanging in the air. "How long have you been here?" My instincts were screaming for me to shut up as I answered the question "8 years. Why do you ask?" "We had come here with the intention to adopt one boy but i think we found two instead." said the man.

"You mean Travis and Conner right?" I asked "Nope we mean Travis and You" This time it was my muzzle that was left gaping open. The next few hours passed in a flurry of activity as the papers got signed and our belongings packed. The following morning we were on our way to our new home in the back of a station wagon.


	2. chapter 2

Chapter 2

(Marsey)

I sat in the passenger seat and watched our two new sons in the mirror on the back of the visor. I admit that the fox attracted my attention more than the other boy did. The fox was watching the scenery go by while the other boy was napping. We were on the highway headed to our modest condominium. It has four bed and two bathrooms and boasts an outside pool. Since I was a dentist and my husband was a lawyer we can afford such a place with enough money left over to live on. He managed to settle at least four cases every month and the proceeds from that and my work were quite profitable. When we drew closer to the city, the Fox covered his ears and cringed at all the noise. The other boy woke up and started looking around in wonder while the fox sat with his knees scrunched up and his paws over his ears in the fetal position.

(Travis)

The city was enormous! The sights the smells were so intoxicating they astounded me. I looked over briefly to see if my friend was as captivated by this place as I was. When I saw that the way he was sitting I found the city less enjoyable. "Sukura, Sukura can you hear me?" I whispered shaking him a little. One of his tails twitched in response so I took that as a yes. "Just wait a little longer OK we will be out of this soon." I smiled encouragingly at my friend but he did not see it, as his eyes shut tight . "Sukura try just to focus on one thing like the sound of my voice and block everything else out." Said the Man. Slowly my friend unfurled and sat up straight. He took his paws off his ears and seemed to focus on breathing as sweat dripped off his face on the floor of the car. When he finally opened his eyes and looked around, he seemed like he was in a much happier mood. "Thanks for the tip" He said to the man who absently nodded. We were approaching a park and as one, Sukura and I turned to look at the greenery as we slowly coasted by.

Traffic was defiantly heavier in this part of the city as was the smog but the scenery at least was good. It took several minutes for us to clear the traffic jam around the park and then we headed to a road crowded with huge trucks. I counted 18 wheels and decided to ask about them.

"What are those?" I asked pointing to a nearby truck beside us. "It's called an 18 wheeler. You haven't seen them before?" I shook my head. "No ma'am, this is the first time I have ever seen one." "So what did they do for education at the Orphanage? Have you had any schooling?" "I'm in 7th grade and Sukura has been home schooled. He is in 6th grade." The woman turned to look at Sukura "Would you like to continue being home schooled or would you prefer going to a public school?" she asked. "I wouldn't mind going to a public school,"he answered.

While we had talked, the Man had managed to make it through the other trucks and we were on a blank stretch of road heading up to a big building. "Well once we get home we will discuss your options. My name is Marsey and my husband's name is Greg." with that she turned back around and left us too our thoughts. It did not take long to reach their place and once inside we busied our self with unpacking. "You two are going to go to Violet Academy for boys. It is a private school and you will get proper education there. You will also be living at the school."

Two days later...

(Sukura)

"Well we are here," I said to Travis before heading up the stairs to my room. I rested my paw on the door before it opened on its own accord. I stepped back as a tan boy who seemed at least a year older than I stepped out. He did not see me though as he was facing a second person that walked out the room. The second person's eyes went wide when he saw me. He shoved his friend out-of-the-way, drew a knife from his pocket, and clicked it open. I dropped my bags and stepped back my tails unfurling under my uniform and I forcibly extended them ripping the fabric but they did give me enough reach to grab the boy's hand and apply force until he had to drop the knife.

"If I had known that pulling knives of fellow students was a common practice here I would have brought my own." I said staring him down coldly. His friend was sputtering in disbelief as I slowly retracted my tails. "Now then if you go for that knife again I won't hesitate to break something. Just back away slowly and, I won't have to hurt you."

Keeping my eyes on him, I gathered my stuff then turned to the other boy. "I'm your new roommate; I just got here today would you mind helping me unpack?" I did not wait for an answer I moved towards the dorm room and the other boy gave me a wide berth as he took off running. I turned and watched. "Or of course you could take off running like your friend." I muttered under my breath. Setting my bags down on the opposite bed, I wrinkled my muzzle at the clutter before closing the door behind me so I could change.

I stepped into the small bathroom and changed pants deliberately cutting out a hole and feeding my tails through before wrapping them around my middle and carefully working the shirt back over top of them. The uniform was white and had Violet Academy across the back as if a jersey on the front was the school emblem. I came out of the bathroom and started to unpack my bags putting my clothes in the other dresser. As I worked, I hummed an old tune that I had memorized. Time flew by as I put my stuff away and soon it was lunchtime.

I took one last look around my section of the room and gave a satisfied nod. Lifting up my shirt slightly I unwound my tails from around my waist slowly and stretched them before putting my shirt back down once more. I took a deep breath and when I heard steps in the hallway, I opened the door and stepped out stuffing the key into my pocket. An audible gasp emanated from the crowd behind me as I made my way forward. I stood straight and tall as I walked down the hall, the people parted like the Red Sea until I reached the bottoms of the stairs and saw another Furry in front of me. It was a wolf with black fur, the tips of the paws were purple and the fur on top of his head was green. The tips of his ears were purple while the inside was green as well. His eyes were green and thought he shied away from me I could tell he was curious.

I waved to him as I walked by and he let me pass without incident. The humans around us started walking again and due to the incoming masses, the wolf began to move close to my side. Deciding to take advantage of the opportunity "I'm Sukura what's your name?" "I'm Pengu" he said blushing. "It's nice to meet you Pengu. I hope that we have some classes together." I gave him a smile and could not stop my tails from wagging gently. _"Man he is cute,"_ I thought to myself blushing as I got into the Lunch line and getting my tray. The menu featured some type of vegetable mess so I just picked up a salad off the side bar and a few packets of dressing before looking around for a table. "Hey you could um well sit with me if you want to" Looking up I saw it was the wolf from before "Sure Pengu I would be delighted to sit with you."

I followed him to his table off to the side of the room and pulled out a chair noting that it seemed to be reinforced. I did not comment and sat down threading my tails through the convenient opening in the back of the chair. I opened the carton of salad up and started preparing it adding in the tomatoes and crushing the crackers over it. I threw on the sprinkles cheese and then opened three packets of dressing and drizzled them on the salad before grabbing the fork and stirring it up well. Then I speared some lettuce and started eating. The wolf across from me had chosen to eat a burger from another line. He also had some fries and a coke. "So Pengu what grade are you in? I'm in 6th grade." "I'm in the same grade as you."

"Cool so what are we supposed to do after we eat?" "Well I'm heading to gym so I guess that means you are too." I wrinkled my nose. "Gym? Well OK I guess. Do we have to dress out for it?" "Yeah you can but it's not required." "That's a relief. What game are they going to make us play?" "dodge ball" hearing his stutter I looked up from my food. "Do they make you play against the others all by yourself?" "Y-yes they say I have to get more exercise than humans," I growled deep in my throat. "Well I'm here now; it's time they get a rude awakening." We finished our lunch and then Pengu lead the way to the gym.

(Pengu)

Once inside the gym I showed Sukura to the Locker Room and he went inside. I followed behind him and saw that he had chosen a stall to change into his kit. I waited leaning against the wall waiting for him to emerge. When he stepped out he was wearing a tank top and he had a jacket tied around his waist. I raised my eyebrow but did not comment on his apparel.

Once on the court he carefully took the jacket off and set it aside. He did a few stretches while I stood against the wall wondering why he was even going to bother. "So since they have the number advantage I suggest we start using out own abilities.

For instance let's make this interesting and play the match in the dark." His words projected across the court to the other team captain. "I agree on that with the condition that you two wear glow sticks so we can see you." "You're on, but it will just be me playing against all of you. We have to make it fair." Sukura was smirking and his tails were dancing in anticipation as the lights dimmed. I put the orange glow sticks on his tails and then stood back on the bleachers.

(Sukura)

When the lights went, out I waited for my eyes to adjust and with the light coming from the hall outside the gym door; I was barely able to make out the other players. When the coach blew the whistle, I tensed and bent my knees jumping up as several dodge balls smacked into the wall that was behind where I was just standing. As I landed, I snatched one up, then dove to the side, and kept rolling to keep the other team confused. Seeing someone bending down to grab a ball I threw the one I was holding and hit his ankle. He walked off the court while I jumped up again barely missing the ball that nearly hit muzzle.

Grunting I started to catch the projectiles in my tails and send the balls back. Due to my efforts, several members of the opposing team forced to sit out. That left about 20 of the other team vs. me. I am tired and my dodges were becoming slower. In the end, I lost to the last member of the team but I was so exhausted they had to carry me off the court. At least they were good sports and congratulated me on my conduct and abilities. After taking a quick shower in the locker room, I rejoined Pengu and glancing at his schedule saw that we had a class called "Furry Anatomy for Canines." I admit I was curious about who the professor is. I am as well at the thought of meeting another Furry.


	3. Chapter 3

(Travis)

I watched my friend walk up the stairs before I headed down the hall. I glanced up at the sign as I neared the staircase and then down at my map. Seems as if I was in the right place, I headed up the stairs holding the white rail and watching my feet so I did not trip.

When I made it to the top, I took a moment to catch my breath. Then I took the chance to look around, the hall is red and covered in beige carpeting. While the color scheme reminded me of the Orphanage, it did not have the comforting feeling that it trying to convey.

I sighed and shook off the old memories as I looked for my room number. The door certainly stood out from the rest of the doors in the hallway because this door was black while the other doors in the hall are red. I found myself suddenly hoping that I would not be rooming with the only Gothic kid in the school.

I raised my hand and knocked once on the door almost praying that no one was home. The doorknob rattled and my hopes went down the drain as a boy in a dark hoody opened the door. Silver snakes peeked out from his ears and two of them glared at me from the armlets he wore around his well arms. On his face eye shadow streaked away from his eyes purple and black giving him a predatory look, his eyes were silver as well all together it was a rather frightening effect.

I found myself taking several steps back and with my voice shaking I said, "H-hello I am Travis your new roommate." He gave me a death glare and his voice made me shudder, "I hope you last longer than the last one." "What happened to the last one?" I asked the fear making my voice small and weak. He smirked and said, "I ate him." I visibly blanched and he burst out laughing.

The laugh made him seem more human and I started to relax. "I can't believe you actually thought that was true. My name is Shawn and I was just going to head out to the nearby skate park. Would you like to come with me and meet the guys?" I shrugged and decided to tag along. "OK sure count me in. I never skated before thought." "Well you can just watch." Said Shawn grabbing his board and heading back down the stairs, I followed behind him taking my time on the steps as we reached the ground floor.

Once outside Shawn hopped on his board and I walked at a decent pace behind him. By the time, we had gone several blocks my feet where beginning to hurt and I asked him if we could take a short break. He nodded and I sat down heavily on the curb wincing a little at the impact. My rather lanky friend sat down on his board nearby watching me. "So where are you From Travis?" I looked down as I answered him "I came from an Orphanage just outside the city limits." "Oh I'm sorry. Who sent you here then?" "I recently got adopted with a friend by a couple that visited the place a few days ago."

"Who is your friend?" I did not think it would be right to talk about Sukura when he was not present. "I can take you around to meet him later after we come back if you would like." Shawn gave a quick nod but looked confused. "You sidestepped the question but I won't push it." I looked at him my eyes wary. "Obviously you're loyal to this friend of yours. So what is the catch?"

"He stopped the older kids from picking on us. He is a year younger than me thought." "A year younger, how much older where the bigger kids?" "The bigger kids were 15, my friend was 8." "How could a 8-year-old even dream of fighting a 15-year-old?" I felt cold sweat break out on my back as I said, "Think about it for a few seconds" Shawn wrinkled his forehead in thought and then it seemed the proverbial light bulb went off over his head.

"You friend... Is he a furry?" "Yes" I said looking away. "Most of the Furries are dead right?" I smirked "I wouldn't say that to my friend if I were you. He is very much alive thank you very much." "Well then forget about going to the park I would very much like to meet your friend." I nodded and stood up.

"I don't know his room number so I am going to have to ask at the front office." "OK then let's go!" with that Shawn pushed on the cement while jumping on his board forcing me to run after him at a brisk pace to keep up.

When we arrived back at the school, I stopped to catch my breath again and Shawn jumped off his board and held on to it waiting for me to recover. When I straightened up, he passed me an unopened bottle of water. I twisted off the top and took a long slow drink before swallowing and capping the bottle. At the front office, I ran my finger down the list on the wall showing room numbers and found my friend. Well technically, we were now brothers but it was just hard for me to think of him that way. From behind me, the receptionist spoke up "Who are you looking for dear?" "Sukura" "He recently asked for a room change I believe he is settling in there now. He is in room 200 with Pengu." I frowned but nodded my understanding. _**"Why did he change rooms? Who is this Pengu?" **_

(Sukura)

I had put down the last box of my stuff from my old room on the bed when there was a knock on the door. I looked up surprised then looked at Pengu. "Do you know who that is?" the wolf shook his head making my frown deepen. I walked towards the door and rested my paw on the knob. "Who is it?" I called holding the knob tightly so they could not enter the room. "It's Travis." "Give me a sec Travis I'm not decent" I lied and then I walked over to Pengu and said, "Travis is a friend of mine we went to the Orphanage together but, I can't imagine why he has the sudden urge to see me."

My fellow Furry nodded and I gave him a small smile "I suspect that Travis isn't here for a friendly visit. I'll come back later and finish unpacking I'm sorry that they have disturbed you." I walked towards the door and said, "Stand back" before I opened it and quickly shut the door behind me. Seeing another boy behind Travis I instantly tensed and backed up against the door. "Who might this be?" I asked quietly with distrust clear in my tone of voice.

Travis to his credit did not attempt to get any closer and, the other boy seemed stuck in place his mouth gaping open. "Earth to Travis do you read me?" I asked waving my paw in front of his face, which seemed to snap him out of it. Travis blinked a few times and then made introductions "Sukura this is Shawn, Shawn this is Sukura" I reached out my paw and offered it to Shawn giving his hand a light shake being careful not to injure him as I did so. "Wow you're a fox!" said Shawn still seeming dumbstruck. "No I'm a wolf in disguise. OF COURSE I'm a fox" I said and stuck my tongue out at him, which made Travis burst out laughing.

I shook my head at their silliness and with a smile waited for them to stop laughing. "You are doing well Travis to have already found another friend so early." Almost instantly, Travis stopped laughing and looked at me. "Why did you switch rooms?" "That is for me to know and for you to not find out." I felt my tails beginning to stand up straight an obvious sign that I was either annoyed or mad. Travis gulped and stepped back a few feet.

"Well then it was nice to see you again Sukura I guess we will head back to the room to hang out." With that, Travis started pulling Shawn down the hall and when they turned the corner, Travis broke into a run. I closed my eyes letting the tension flow out of me sighing with relief as I leaned on the door. I took a few minutes to catch my breath and calm down.

Then I opened the door and went back inside the dorm room to start unpacking. "H-hey are you OK?" said Pengu. I sighed and said, "Yeah I'm fine, Travis just wanted to show me off to his friend." _**"What on earth could Travis have thought? Even if we are brothers now I do NOT have to tell him everything." **_My thoughts must have shown on my face because Pengu moved to stand beside me and started helping me unpack. For the next three hours, I did not say a word just went through the motions of unpacking, while in my head I cursed myself for being such a naive fool. _**"How could I have ever trusted Travis? I should have known that once he was around others that his outlook on me would change." **_

When I put the last pair of socks, away I sat down on my bed and Pengu mirrored me sitting on his. "Thanks for helping me unpack it would have taken me longer otherwise." "You're welcome" Pengu said softly with a light blush that I pretended I did not see.

Now that I had stopped unpacking, I started to notice the room's decor. The walls were a cherry red that reminded me of flames, while the carpet on the floor was a deep blue that almost matched my fur. Both beds had a set of covers, the sheets on my bed where purple and, the sheets on Pengu's bed where green. There were two lamps in the room one beside each bed and, a curtain was hanging on a rod between the beds for privacy. There was also a small bathroom and a closet that we shared. There was a single chest of drawers and I had taken the empty bottom two to hold my undergarments. "This room has a nice color scheme. Did you pick it out Pengu?" Pengu nodded gently and I smiled. "You did a good job picking this stuff out. It really is beautiful"

Pengu blushed a deep red and I giggled as the bell rang for dinner. As if on cue, my tummy rumbled and I laughed harder. "Let's go eat," I said to Pengu tugging on his arm to help him to his feet paws. He stumbled a little and I caught him letting him regain his balance as he rested against my chest. I held my breath and let him stay there for a few seconds before I gently backed up and let go of him. I didn't say a word but I was blushing even thought my tails were wagging furiously behind me.


	4. Chapter 4

(Sukura)

I lead the way down to dinner but my thoughts were on my parents I barely stopped myself from running into others several times and as a result I am sure that Pengu noticed my heavy mood. Hearing my name shouted across the hall I looked up to see Mr. Francis waving his wing to get my attention. I tilted my head confused as I walked over to the Owl. Pengu had followed me from behind and together we regarded the teacher silently. "Hello Sir" I said respectfully "Hello Sukura and Pengu. I was wondering if you two would mind having dinner with me in my room." _**"What is he planning?" **_I thought to myself as I considered his invitation.

My stomach rumbled again at that moment and I sighed and decided to go along with him. "I would be delighted to join you sir." I said politely and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Pengu nod as well. Mr. Francis clapped his hands together

"Well that's settled then. I'll show you to my room." He turned on his heel and walked away at a fast pace. Pengu and I were about running after him to keep up. As we ran, the surrounding students became a rather good obstacle course. With a series of flips and jumps, I negotiated my way through the crowd barely able to keep the Owl's broad back in sight.

As the Owl slowed to a stop, I glanced back and waited for Pengu to catch up. I bent double resting my paws on my knees as I wheezed glad for the brief break and from the site of black paws in my line of sight, I knew Pengu was beside me. The Wolf was panting heavily and I could not blame him. "_**Why on earth is that Owl running so fast?" **_I thought before straightening up and glancing around the now empty hall. "Boys the food is getting cold!" shouted Mr. Francis down the hall and I saw his beak from room 505.

I walked over to the door and let Pengu go ahead of me into the room. On the table where various cut of meat, a few looked suspiciously like mice and other rodents. I wrinkled my muzzle a bit before straightening my face into a bored expression.

Beside me, I saw Pengu notice the mice as well however, he did not react. I pulled out a chair for him and then I sat down in another drawing myself closer to the table. "So why did you invite us for supper tonight? "The Owl raised his eyes and across from me, Pengu gasped.

I shrugged "What? There has to be a reason other than dinner thought I do appreciate the meal." "Very astute of you Sukura" as he spoke my ears picked up gunshots and distant screaming throughout the halls. "Let me guess that was our room?"

The teacher nodded and worry clouded his face as he looked at us. More shots rang out and a let off a growl as I heard someone's body hit the floor. I stood up from the table and started making my way to the door. "Well as much as I don't like humans I'm not going to let them die." With that, I made my way into the madhouse.

(Pengu)

The teacher was watching the door as my thoughts filled with worry. _**"I hope that he will be OK, what am I going to do if he gets shot?" **_ The owl stood up and gestured for me to follow him. I was getting antsy as I heard more shots and even more screams.

I was starting to get impatient with the old bird's pace as he revealed a hidden room by tapping the wall. The door slid back smoothly and he quickly stepped inside grabbed a few things and then stepped out before handing them to me.

It turned out that the things he had handed me where bulletproof vests. I gulped as I held them but hurriedly began pulling one on. I only had one vest remaining and Looking around I didn't see the Owl so I held my breath as I made my way to the door and stuck my head out into the hall ready to move quickly if I had too. Most of the students in this hall were face down on the ground with a gunman standing in the center of the hall with his weapon trained on them. He turned the other direction and so I slipped down to the ground and crawled into the masses of students. Several of them noticed me and climbed on top of me to shield me as the gunman turned back around and screamed "Next person that moves is going to get shot!"

From underneath the mass of bodies that hid me from view I strained my ears trying to hear more than the hushed breathing that surrounded me on all sides.

(Sukura)

I was behind one of the support pillars in the cafeteria. I am unarmed so I was staying hidden. In the rush to secure the cafeteria, the gunmen had shot out several lights giving me ample places to hide myself.

Scattered at my feet where several pieces of glass from the lights. The lights were simple old white bulbs that where formerly in circular depressions in the ceiling. Therefore, I picked them up careful not to cut myself.

I heard whimpering from the room at large and took a peek trying to trace the sound. A redheaded girl was sobbing quietly holding the body of a nearby boy with a sizable hole in his chest. His blood stained her once pink top and her white pants as she silently rocked back and forth.

I ducked back behind the pillar and decided to make my move. Walking carefully I made my way towards the back of one of the gunmen.

My plan was to try to draw the gunman into the shadows. I gripped the sharp edge of a piece of glass in my paw and took careful aim at the back of the man's neck.

"_**Once they began to fear their surroundings and begin to feel cold sweat trickle down their backs as doubt entered their minds then that is when I have the upper hand.**_" I thought to myself and smiled grimly.

A skittering of a rat drew attention to the south corner. The gunman opened fire and shot out several more light bulbs as a result.

I took my chance and threw the shard of glass I was holding and it sliced deep into the neck of my target surprising me. He instantly dropped forward. I quickly ducked back behind my pillar safe the other shooter started screaming and shooting wildly. Several people yelped as they were hit in the arm or the ankle but their friends nearby quickly put pressure on the wounds tearing pieces of their own clothes off to act as bandages.

While this was happening, the gunman had been steadily backing up towards me when he was in the right spot I jumped out and grabbed him. I used my tails to secure his gun and bind his arms to his sides. "Time to die" I whispered into his ear as I twisted my arms and snapped his neck.  
I winced at the sound but gently set him down on the ground and closed his eyes. In truth, he did not deserve the honor but still it is just something you do.

Around me, the sounds of quiet sobs from the living parted the silence. "Is everyone here OK?" I asked looking around at the group. A boy with brown hair and glasses on nodded. I focused my attention on him.

"Did they happen to say anything about where the others were?" He shook his head and shivered as his eyes wandered over to the once living gunman. "Better him than any of you." I said softly holding his gaze a bit longer than usual before walking out the doors of the cafeteria. I strained my ears and faintly could hear footsteps from four halls down. As I made my way there, I kept close to the wall and carefully scoped out each corner before I moved. For some strange reason the Fourth, guard was not approaching any longer. I stopped and tensed trying to figure out why. On his belt, a radio squawked and I jumped a little.

In front of me was wall with yellow wallpaper and a few plants in between two supports. Directly to my right was a staircase. To my left was the way I just traveled, and immediately behind me was the hallway where the guard was. I risked a peach around the corner and saw that the guard was looking at his feet while he talked on the radio.

Behind him was a mass of students all lying face down on the floor. In one spot, they densely packed themselves almost as if they were hiding someone. **_Well I hope that someone was not claustrophobic_**. I thought to myself. I ducked back into my hiding spot and then ducked and rolled around the right towards the staircase. The guard must have seen the edge of my tail as it slipped past the opening because he screamed into his radio.

"The Fox is here!" I took off running up the staircase and behind me; I heard booted feet pick up speed. Since he was behind me, it would give him the perfect opportunity to shoot me in the back as I ran up the stairs. Therefore, I decided to try a different approach from the base of the stairs I jumped to the top and felt bullets whistle past as they nicked my ears. I yelped as I started to bleed but I did not slow.

I jumped over the rail and landed hard on the ground floor from above the shooter scoured another hit when he got my left shoulder. I screamed a sound of pure pain as I rolled under the stairs. The guard tried to follow me but I was out of range.

My shoulder throbbed and both ears freely dripped blood. _**"Well I got him away from the other students; the only problems I have now are I'm wounded and pinned down."**_ The guard started heading down the stairs. The sound of his feet told me he was confident that he had me. "**_Stupid human doesn't he know that you're not supposed to corner a wounded animal?"_**The guard rounded the base of the stairs and I tackled him smashing him into the ground.

I growled and we struggled with the gun between us. I was stronger but wounded. However, the gunman seemed taken by surprise so I did have a small advantage. As we struggled, he moved his foot to try to hit my shoulder but was not able to do so as I had wrapped his feet securely in my many tails.

With savage glee, I heard the bones of his legs groan in protest then both femurs snapped making the gunman scream. I took my chance and snatched the gun then blew his brains out; the ejected cartridge flew pat my shoulder as I shakily stood up feeling a little light-headed from blood loss. I leaned against the wall to catch my breath and then bent down and grabbed the shotgun. My ears where ringing from being so close to the gun when it discharged. I then headed back down the hall leaving a bloody trail in the carpet as I made my way back to the students.

They must have held their breaths because when I moved into their line of sight they let out a collective breath Then in the corner, the mass of bodies shifted to show Pengu who sat up and was wearing a bulletproof vest. He was also holding a spare. It would not do me any good now.

Still it was good to see that he was ok and when he ran over to me looking concerned, I tried to make light of my injuries so I would not worry him. He knew I was lying of course but he let me get away with it. He helped me into the bulletproof vest and I gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks Pengu" I said so low that only he could hear. He gave my paw a squeeze then turned back to the other students. I waited patiently behind him against the wall wondering what he was going to say.

Pengu cleared his throat and then said, "Thanks for hiding me. I don't know how I can thank you." our fellow students where shivering and holding each other close. From behind Pengu, I spoke up. "The cafeteria is clear if you would like to move there it is a temporary safe zone." my throat was dry so only Pengu managed to make sense of my words. He repeated them to the other students and as one mass, they moved past us with Pengu leading them to the cafeteria.

I briefly wondered where the Owl was but dismissed the thought and shoved myself off the wall to bring up the rear. The students Pengu and me were escorting made it safely to the cafeteria without any confrontation and they moved over to their fellows. "Pengu you stay here with these guys. I'll go see if anyone else is in trouble." I talked tough but the truth was I could barely move. I was at the end of my strength. Pengu grabbed my uninjured shoulder and turned me around to face him. "You're not going anywhere Sukura. You can barely stand; you are going to take a seat and rest." I did as told smiling slightly.

"So where did the avian go?" I asked Pengu "I haven't seen the teacher since I got the bullet proof vests." "Do u think it's possible that he called this in then made a run for it?" a deep frown transformed Pengu's face as he thought. In truth, I hoped I was wrong. However, given the circumstances it would make sense.

Still I only killed two gunman the other remaining one the cafeteria was still alive but paralyzed. From where I sat, I gestured for Pengu to help me up. The gunman was still face down where I left him. I put the gun to the back of his head and closed my eyes as I pulled the trigger. Gore splashed over my legs but I ignored it. Pengu thankfully had his eyes shut tight so he didn't see anything and guided us back to where we had sat. The other students were looking at me visibly shaken. "Well I had to make sure he was dead. Last time I checked if you blow off someone's head they can't come back to life." I said in explanation. I kept an arm around Pengu as I checked the ammo in the gun I had four shells left. I put the safety back on and carefully lowered it to the tile floor.

(Captain Tom)

Someone had pulled the fire alarm and it sounded throughout the school as if it shared the pain of those inside. It took almost two hours for the fire department to get to the school.

They did not find any fire instead, they found the student body huddled together inside the cafeteria with two bodies on the ground one was missing its head the other had his neck bent at a funny angle. Further, on down the hall they found another bloody mess that used was once a head. The legs of the body were horribly mangled and bloody. They then called emergency medical services and the Police.

Several of the students were rushed to the hospital for treatment. Through it, all The Fox and the Wolf sat quietly in the corner.

The gun got took by police and the two Furries were taken to a vet for examination. Throughout the surgery, the Wolf held the Fox's paw tightly.

The Fox recovered well from the surgery though he would have some trouble hearing for a while because two bandages that where on each ear and he had gauze wrapped around his left shoulder. The shoulder needed stitches after the surgery so the Fox made sure not to move the arm too much or they would rip out.

Finally, I started to take statements from the students. While that had happened the Fox and the Wolf stayed at the vet's office with another officer. We told them it was for their protection; still I think the Fox knew something was up because he looked skeptical when I told him that. The officer was there to make sure that they did not run off.

During the interview process, several of the kids broke down crying so I recommended their parents to put them through therapy. Several of them agreed, and the same amount looked at me as if I had insulted them. "My kid is tough enough to handle this he/she isn't a sissy" I would mentally roll my eyes but kept my mouth shut.

Finally, it became time to take the statements of the two animals. I decided to talk to the Fox while another officer would question the Wolf.

Before the two Furries went to their separate interrogation rooms, the Fox kissed the Wolf on the cheek and when they separated, the Wolf was blushing. I coughed and he walked over to me quickly enough. I did not comment on his display of affection as I opened the door. He sat down in one chair and after closing the door, I sat down in the opposite one.

"I'm Captain Tom. You have the right of silence, you have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one the court will appoint one to you. You have the right to have an attorney be present during questioning. Anything you say can be used against you in court."

When I finished reciting the lines I took a breath then said. "Do you understand these rights?" "Yes. So Am I under arrest?" I nodded.

"I thought I was here to tell you my story." "Your paw prints were found on the weapon that killed two humans." "You should double-check the prints. My paws were not the only hands on that weapon. The bullet that was recovered from my shoulder should match the same bullets that you dug out of the tile and carpet floors."

The Fox looked at me with sharp eyes while he spoke. He knew very well that even saying these words put him at risk. He did not seem to care that his freedom was on the line. Both of his paws were gripping the armrests of the chair hard enough to make the chair squeal slightly in protest and his canines where flashing as he spoke.

"Why did you blow of their heads?" "To make sure they were dead." "Why did you only kill two of them that way?" "The third one had his neck snapped there was no way he could be anything but dead."

The door flew open after the last question to show a slightly out of breath attorney. "I'm here to represent the Fox. You should have known better than to question him without me being here." The Fox glanced up "I don't recall asking for an attorney, In fact if you check the recording I'm sure you will find out that I never said I wanted one."

His words laced with ice and the temperature seemed to drop in the room. Still the attorney snagged a spare chair from the supply closet and sat down beside the fox. "What's your name?" she asked "Sukura. It means Cherry Blossoms in Japanese."

"So you're an immigrant?" "No I'm an orphan." his words were bitter and his face darkened. I coughed politely to remind them both I was still here. Sukura jumped but the lawyer turned to face me without even blinking.

"From the statements gathered from the rest of the student body you were seen with the gunman on several occasions. Many witnesses place you in the cafeteria where several people were shot." I said watching his reaction. He was simmering with anger but he did not lash out as I thought he would. "Dear me it seems that you took what you heard from the bunch of students in the cafeteria and formed your own conclusion without all the evidence."

"Then tell me how 45 people could be wrong" I challenged. However, the Fox was right I was trying to paint him into a corner. "Alright then I'll tell you what really happened." his lawyer put a hand on his arm and he glanced over at her reading her expression. Then he ignored the clear warning that was in her eyes.

"I had just entered the room of Mr. Francis our avian teacher that taught Furry Anatomy class. Pengu or the Wolf as you know him was with me. As soon as I heard gunshots, I ran from the room down the hall. Pengu had stayed behind with Mr. Francis. I managed to make my way to the cafeteria and along the way I heard several people being thrown out of their dorm rooms." I raised my hand here and he broke off.

"How could you tell that from the sound?" I asked finding myself suddenly curious. Before he could answer, the chief paged me on the intercom. I excused myself and made my way to his office.

A lab coat was in the room with him when I opened the door. "This is Professor Fiona Brooke. She is the top authority on Furries," he said and I offered my hand to the brown-haired woman. Her glasses flashed as she looked me over and the smile on her face was obviously fake. "What brings you here Professor?" "I came for the two Furries you have in custody" "They are both currently giving statements for a pending investigation so we cannot turn them over to you just yet." She nodded.

"Why do you want them anyway?" "To run tests and to see how their minds work." as she spoke she became visibly excited moving her hands enthusiastically as she talked and her face became more animated. "Do they have any say in this?" I asked "No they don't. The state has already signed the forms and when you get done talking to them they are mine." I shrugged and the Chief dismissed me. I made my way back to the interrogation room and picked up some water on my way for the boy.

When I reached the room once more, I passed the water over to him and he managed to unscrew it and take a swallow. Then when he saw that I was ready, he started talking once more. "Furries have 2 times the hearing ability of humans so it was easy enough to figure out what was happening." He cleared his throat and then said

"I managed to make it to the cafeteria two gunmen where already there. They had shot out several lights and were yelling at the students as I slipped inside. At least one or two students wounded and there was glass on the floor from the lights. The layout of the cafeteria is as follows. There is one door on the south side. It was already open due to the big dent on its surface. Once you get inside there are 16 support pillars in a star formation holding up the roof. The area outside the pillars was black. My fur as you can see is quite dark s it was a simple matter to hide in the shadows and make my way towards the gunmen. The North corner was where the students were huddled."

He took a sip of his drink while in my mind's eye I was reconstructing the scene. "I took my pick of the pieces of glass on the floor and eventually made my way behind the gunmen. The students could not see me as the dark shadows hid me. Something caused one of the gunmen to open fire and when I checked one of the students was dead. It was silent for a bit then they started shooting at a rat near the back wall while they did this I took my chance and threw a piece of glass at the gunman. It pierced his neck and paralyzed him. He fell forward and the other went nuts shooting like crazy. He backed up to where I was and I grabbed him trapping his gun with my tails then I snapped his neck."

"Then after checking on my fellow students I moved on down the hall. I found the third gunman had pinned down more students and these students had concealed Pengu among them." I had jumped across the gap as he spoke into a radio and he noticed me. He started trying to shoot me. He nicked both ears as I ran up a staircase and then jumped of the edge and landed he shot my shoulder. When he came down the stairs to finish the job I tackled, he and we fought over the gun. My tails broke his legs and then I used that chance to grab the gun and blow off his head. Then I led the other students to the cafeteria with Pengu and blew off the paralyzed person's head. Then that is it. I never raised that gun against fellow students. It WAS self-defense because they were trying to kill me. My actions prevented further harm."

"Well Sukura thank you for your statement, you have to stay within the state for the next few days for when we call you. You may go"

He finished in a rush and then gulped down the water. The Fox and his lawyer went outside and while I watched Him and the Wolf where hit with stun guns. They went down to the screaming protest of their individual lawyers then the lab coats dragged them off to god knows where.


	5. Chapter 5

(Sukura)

When I woke up, I am on a table and several sinister looking wires are connected to my arms. Following them back to their source, I noticed several strange machines.

I felt groggy and the Bright light from the ceiling was not helping with the headache that decided to start bouncing around my skull. A few minutes passed and I turned my head this way and that trying to see where I was. Everything in the room was white and shiny. Even the straps around my arms and legs were white.

They did not think to restrain my tails thought I cannot imagine why they neglected to do so. "**_Maybe this is a test," _**I thought and despite the fact that my tails where horribly cramped I started to move them and slip them between the restraints.

After a few seconds of trying to pry them open by brute force, I changed tactics. I played with the buckle on each strap and managed to undo my paws. I bit my tongue hard to stop myself from crying out as blood flow returned to my arms. I then bent down, worked on the leg straps, and was soon free of them.

As if on cue, an alarm started blaring when I jumped off my table. Therefore, I turned to the only door in the room and braced myself for a fight. Problem was when the door opened my opponent did not fight with their fists or their guns. No my opponent fought with something far more deadly.

They attacked me with their mind. When I felt them enter my head, I growled. Soon I was skipping around the room and singing something about rainbows. I tried to fight it but my efforts did not work. When they were over with my antics, they knocked me out and I fell to the ground.

(Pengu)

I was against the wall in a dark room staring daggers at the thing that was pretending to care for me. This woman may have fooled others but I was not that stupid, I knew she was here to manipulate me. I was seething with rage because they had dared to hurt Sukura. I do not know why I suddenly felt so strongly about him but I did not question it. Right now, my anger was something that made me strong and let me keep my sanity so I held on to it like a lifeline. The thing gave a slight cough as if it was trying to attract my attention.

I smirked. "**_I'm not straight woman so your charms don't work on_**** me"** However she did not seem able to clue into that small fact. They assumed I was straight and that was their loss. The woman in front of me could not have been older than 25 and with her seemingly good looks she would have had most men drooling over her by now.

The fact that I was Furry and an entirely different species than she was did not seem to affect her one bit. Her gaze kept traveling all over me and I felt like I was being eye raped. She drew closer and I growled at her my muzzle wrinkling to expose my teeth. My ears went down and my tail stayed still. She backed off a little and I gave her a murderous smile making sure to show all of my very pointy teeth.

Then the door opened and a boy stepped inside. He stared holes into my forehead but whatever he was trying to do did not affect me. He frowned and then switched his gaze to the woman. She started singing like a canary and I held my ears watching in disbelief as she kept singing. He then turned back to me and seemed to try again... and still nothing.

I do not usually fight because I am a pacifist by nature. However, this time they had pushed me to damn hard. I let my claws come out and I slashed the throat of the thing. She gurgled still trying to sing as her own blood filled her lungs. Then I launched a kick at the freak that blocked it. However, he seemed horribly confused about why I was not dead. A gas canister dropped from his belt and began to discharge its contents. "NOOOO!" screamed the boy; I could not understand what was wrong. I backed away and watched as he froze into a block of ice. I felt something touch my mind and yelped in surprise. _Well Ice master I'm yours to command" "__**Ice master?**__" "Yep" "__**Cool**__" _When I finished my mental conversation I froze the door and it shattered when I punched my way through it. "_**Hold on Sukura I'm coming!"**_ I thought as I ran down the hall to find him.

(Sukura)

I woke up screaming in agony as something foreign rushed through my blood stream. Around me, glass broke and shattered and a rabble of raised voices assaulted my ears. "The Plants they are attacking!" terrified screams filled the air while I opened my own eyes my scream mingling with the others.

The plants were racing towards me! I could not believe my eyes at the scene before me. Plants where attacking the scientists to an unusual extent as if the plants had finally been pushed to far by these cruel humans and was fighting back. When I felt something leafy grab me from behind and wrap around me like a cocoon I panicked and tried to fight the plants surrounding me.

The leafy thing took all of my attacks and did not even dent. Therefore, I focused on trying to calm down I closed my eyes and shut out the world sitting lotus style on the floor inside my cocoon. I focused on my breathing and then once I calmed down I felt the plant speak within my mind. "_Are you OK?" _my thoughts scattered in a thousand different directions then started running back to me with the power of a freight train.

I was so shocked that my muzzle dropped open. The plant prodded my mind once more. _Hello is anyone alive in there?" "Y-yes I'm alive...what is this?" _my mental voice was strangled and weak. I cursed myself and the plant seemed to be amused.**_ I must be going insane to be hearing this or even seeing this. I must be in a padded room somewhere and my mind is playing a bad trick on me. _**I gave a shaky laugh that sounded more like a whimper.

"_You're not insane and you're not in a padded room." "__**What type of plant ARE **_**you?**" "_I'm a special breed of organic metal. The scientist here mixed me up. It's disappointing that you don't recognize the very flower you were named after Sukura." _

The way the plant said my name made me shiver. I took a closer look at the flowers and they were cherry blossoms. I reached out to touch one of the delicate flowers and it wrapped itself around my arms gently. The strength of these flowers put my own to shame. I was thankful that the plant had decided to be gentle with me. If it so desired it could have crushed me like an insect.

_"__**How long have I been asleep?**__" _"_You were asleep for about 20 minutes after they injected you with the serum." "__**What do you mean?**__" "That's the reason that you can hear me and that is also the reason that my brethren are wreaking a very bloody revenge on their creators. We responded to your distress." _I absorbed that knowledge feeling like a bomb had gone off in my head.

Then I remembered Pengu and I started to see red. _"Whoa calm down! You need to know more about your new ability and you must choose your Flower Affinity." "What is the __**Flower Affinity? What else can you tell me about this new power?" **_

_"Whoa calm down! You need to know more about your new ability and you must choose your flower partner." Well first choose your Flower Affinity"_ I was getting irritated. _"__**What is a Flower Affinity?**__" "A Flower Affinity is the special connection between a person and their plant. It can only happen when the person and the plant in question injected with the serum. However, it must be a choice that both parties agree with. Once the choice is decided, there is no going back. The benefits of a Flower Affinity are as follows: In times of need the plant will sprout and defend its person. It does not matter how barren the place is if a drop of blood from their person touches the ground, the Flower will manifest itself. If the plant already naturally occurs in the area then their person may command them as they wish. In return for the plants service their person will take care of them and nourish them. _ I nodded my understanding and then thought ' _**I already know my choice I choose you as my Flower Affinity"**_

The Cherry Blossoms seemed delighted with my choice. _"Thank you it will be an honor to serve you Sukura" I_ smiled and stood up. Sensing my intentions the Blossoms collapsed the cocoon and settled just behind me covering the back of my arms with their embrace. _"So where are we headed?" _They asked as if we were having a picnic instead of walking through a battlefield. I kept my head pointed forward as several Roses started ravaging an unfortunate group of women with their thorns with savage glee. I could not stop myself from watching in awe at the savage beauty of this occurrence. What once had been a proud greenhouse was now in ruins.

The dirt floors bristled with bloodthirsty plant life while the scientist tried to run away from their creations they grabbed up in droves and watered the ground with their lifeblood. The doors destroyed and flashing red alarms lit the area. The gurney that I had laid on smashed into pieces and I was wearing a thin hospital gown. The sheer space this part of the complex took up was amazing and there where plants in every square inch of the place. The roof began to shake and the blossoms that had been on my arms now began to cover my body as if I was wearing a living suit of armor.

Debris and dust fell from the ceiling as I started running from the place. The few plants that were in my way moved briefly so I could get past them then they went back to their current task of tearing the place apart. _"To think that this place was once state of the art" _the tone of the flowers was mocking and as I passed through the exit that would take me away from the sight of Nature's Revenge I paused at the door and bowed my head in thanks to my saviors before scampering off down the hall. "**_Gotta find_**_** Pengu,**_**"** I thought to myself repeatedly as went down the hall. Seeing a building map on the wall I stopped in front of it and started reading it trying to figure out where I was.

(Travis)

The face of my brother stared back at me from the front page of the newspaper that my dad was holding. The school had given us a three-week vacation to recover from the trauma of recent events. Marsey was wearing a bright yellow dress since she was off work. Her eyes filled with worry as she read the story over Greg's shoulder. We were at the breakfast table and I was moodily staring into my cereal.

I just could not find it inside myself to worry over my brother. He obviously was in love with that Wolf that was right beside him on the front page. Still my "parents" were clueless when it came to such matters as one of their sons being gay.

My right arm was in a cast and I had seven stitches in my left hand. Marsey and Greg had barley spared me a glance when they picked me up from the school. I was here and Sukura was not. Surely, that fact alone would call for some more attention. They chose a Fox over me and it was making me very mad.

I had lost my appetite so I put my bowl in the sink with a few pieces of chocolate cereal floating in dregs of milk. Then I stomped my way to my bedroom and slammed the door making the painting on the wall rattle.

I turned on the radio and cranked it up to ten as rock music spilled from the speakers. The room was sound proof so Marsey and Greg would not be able to hear anything. I jumped on the bed and stared into the ceiling lost in thought.

Several hours passed when a knock on my door informed me that it was lunchtime. I checked the clock on my bedside table to be sure. The hands showed 2:00 P.M. so I rolled out of bed and turned off my music before opening the door and heading into the kitchen.

I fixed a submarine sandwich and grabbed a soda then sat down at the table to eat. My anger had somewhat faded by now so when I saw the paper across the table I grabbed it. As I scanned the front-page story, I was shocked. During the shooting, I had not seen my brother but if this newspaper was right then he is detained in a lab somewhere undergoing experiments.

I flipped over to the next page and skimmed it while nibbling on my sub. The reporter did not give the location of the lab but they were able to give a name. GeoTech Inc. It did not ring any bells so I decided to try an Internet search. When I entered the family room to use the computer I found Greg and Marsey seated at it. I walked towards them and chanced a glance at the screen.

Turns out the where looking up GeoTech Inc. as well. I pulled up another chair and watched silently as Greg flipped through a few websites. When he reached the company website, I felt my blood run cold as I read their motto.

**_"For the benefit of humanity a few pawns must be sacrificed"_**

Beneath that lay, a small article that told about the number of advances they had made in various fields. The ones that caught my eye where Botanics and Cryogenics. I shook my head feeling my head begin to pound from such big words. Greg looked up both words and it turns out that botanics meant plant research while cryogenics meant freezing people and then waking the up later. They artificially mixed up their own type of plants that had advanced intelligence.

Their greatest success was Cherry Blossoms. The flowers seemed to be made of some type of organic metal. They looked like the real thing but where fifty times stronger than a human, that meant they were ten times stronger than a Furry. The irony of Sukura's name and the flower did not escape me. When Greg tried to scroll past the article, I stopped him. "Don't move it up yet I want to see if there is a place where those particular flowers are made."

The article listed the place as North Dakota and it was deep in the mountains. "Well at least now we have a possible place where Sukura is," I pointed out to Greg and Marsey. They nodded and then started discussing travel plans and stuff. I quickly became bored of such talk and wandered out of the room until they called me back in about an hour later.

"I'm about to order tickets and I have arranged for you to stay with a family friend until we come back." Said Marsey her hand wrapped around the phone cord as she waited to place her order.

"Who am I staying with?" I asked feeling curious. "Her name is Ms. White glove. She races thoroughbred horses." "Sounds Cool but what are you two planning to do when you reach the place? You're not exactly spies." "True but I am a lawyer." "Yes but I'm sure they have lawyers to Greg"He had no answer for that one.

I shrugged and went back to my room to pack a bag and by that time Marsey had already ordered there two airline tickets and my ride was at the door. I went outside quickly and got into the car. We drove off in silence to her ranch. The countryside was wide and open here. It reminded me so much of the orphanage. There was no gray cloud of smog here and the air was nice and clean.

It brought back memories of my time at the Orphanage and I sighed as I relived those simpler times. A smile was on my face when pulled up to the ranch and I saw the horses. They seemed to be strong and healthy to my untrained eye. Ms. White glove defiantly had a gleam of pride in her eyes when I commented on them. "**_I hoped that Greg and Marsey were going to be able to get Sukura back."_**I thought to myself as I entered the house and began to unpack. The sounds of crickets filled the night and I sighed with happiness once more as their song made me drift into oblivion.


	6. Chapter 6

(Greg)

The red eye flight to North Dakota was full with worry and distress. Our son convicted as a criminal by the local news and because he was a Furry, was undergoing dangerous experiments. According to the article there was supposed to be a Wolf with him as well. The way they were looking at each in the photo in the front page erased any doubts that I had.

Our son was as gay as the rainbow but at least he had found a suitable match. I was studying the paper with my wife beside me asleep against the window. The Wolf seemed to be healthy if somewhat shy his face somewhat hidden behind a black hoodie. When the flight attendant swished by I spared her a glance then returned to my paper. It had been two hours since take off and I was beginning to get bored.

When the food cart came through, I got a bag of small peanuts and a soda. I nibbled on them for the next hour or so then washed them down with the soda. I finally started drifting to sleep at the four-hour mark. When I woke up, we were at our destination. I smiled grimly and shook my wife awake then grabbed out bags. We checked them at customs then made our way to a rental car agency that was close to the airport. I forked over twenty-five hundred dollars to rent the car for two weeks. I had no idea how long it would take to reach the complex but once we got there, it would not matter.

The car came with a map and so Marsey plotted the quickest course up into the mountains. Then we stopped for food and supplies at a camping store. We bought everything from thermal blankets to dehydrated food. When we got to the register the attendant swiped the items without a word. I rolled our cart out to the car and we proceeded to shove everything we bought into the trunk and the backseat.

I tried to enjoy the scenery but honestly it just blurred as the first few hours went by. The temperature dropped as the land rose. We stopped at the base of a mountain to make camp when it got to dark to see. Marsey set up the tent while I gathered some wood to light a fire.

When I came back, she was waiting for me patiently bundled up in a heavy coat. Just a few feet in front of us were a sign that promised the base of the mountain was 10 feet to the north. It advertised a ski lodge and several other tourists' attractions. The one that caught my attention advertised snowmobiles.

I pointed this out to my wife "Looks like we can rent some more suitable transportation up ahead." she nodded silently and shivered. Suddenly remembering that I was supposed to be lighting the fire I gathered the branches I found and flicked my quick fire starter. Within seconds, a cheery little blaze was burning in front of us. I turned to the food "Do you want dehydrated fish or dehydrated salad?" I asked holding up our choices. She chose the fish so I started heating up some water and added it to both meals. I passed her the fish and a few packets of tartar sauce that came with it. Then I drizzled some dressing on my meal and dug in.

The food was good and it filled my stomach quite well. My wife was still digging into her food as I finished my dish and packed away the plastic wrappings that the meal had come in. I rolled out my sleeping bag for later than watched her eat. Marsey did not seem to mind my stare at all. Her small smile was lighting up her face and I smiled back. Her eyes where mischievous as she looked at me while scooping up some snow and throwing it at me.

I was shocked then I burst out laughing feeling the tension leave my body. A breathless snowball fight ensued until I gave up saying "Uncle!" but that did not stop her from throwing the last snowball right in my face. I cleaned off my face then crawled into my sleeping bag with Marsey beside me in her own.

"I'm worried about them my dear." I said softly "What do you mean them? I thought we were here for our Son." "Our Son is in love with the Wolf. It would be bad manners on our part to take one and leave the other.' Marsey looked at me shocked. "How long have you known?" "I have known our son was gay since I saw the picture of him and the wolf in the paper. I can tell by the way the two of them are looking at each other."

She seemed to recover from the bombshell I had just dropped rather quickly. She turned on her side and tried to get to sleep. I did the same and did not move until the morning sun filtered through the fabric of the tent. I groaned as I sat up and I popped my back and did a few stretches. I could smell bacon cooking on the fire so I hastily made my way outside. Marsey passed me some bacon when she saw me but no word of greeting passed her lips.

We started packing everything in the car and when we finished we were both panting. White smoke puffed from my mouth as I leaned against the car trying to catch my breath. When I did, I made my way to the driver's side of the car and jumped in. I turned the dial for the heater as far as it would go. Marsey got in and we both buckled out seat-belts. Then I put the car in gear and headed up the mountain going slowly up the trail.

The sun shined behind us illuminating the snow making it hard to see the road. Therefore, when the lodge rose from the earth and covered the ground in its long shadow it was a blessing. I pulled into the parking lot and slowly got out of the car stretching lightly with a yawn before locking the car and heading inside.

I moved over to the fire and my wife sat with me staring into the cheerful flames. The warmth from the fire entered my body and made me feel drowsy. I started blinking to stay awake and went over the corner to make a cup of strong black coffee. I swigged that down then had a refill before bringing one over to my wife.

She swigged it down greedily as if I had just given her the only source of coffee she would see for the next five years. I left her sitting at the chair while I went to ask about the snowmobiles. The retail person in charge of them kept talking on and on until finally I passed three hundred-dollar bills over the bar and he took the money and handed me two keys.

I went back to my wife and gave her a key then went out front and got the snowmobile that I was going to ride. I packed dry goods and coffee grounds into my snowmobile and when Marsey came out a few seconds later I passed her the tent and sleeping bags along with a few pots and pans.

"_**Hold on boys we're**_** coming"** I thought as we set off for the lab complex.

(Pengu)

In front of me, the lab security was trembling with fear and cold. The temperature in the room was barely above freezing but since they did not have fur like me, they were really feeling the bite. "Where is Sukura?" I asked dropping the temperature to freezing. They stood there with their teeth chattering. "Answer me!" I said shaking with anger.

Finally, I lost patience with them and froze them into blocks of ice. Then I zapped and shattered the computer as well. **_"Man where IS_**** he?"** I thought to myself jogging down yet another hallway. From the end of this one I heard screams and a few feet in front of me Flowers _went through a guy pinning him to the wall _my jaw dropped and the Ice poked my mind trying to get my attention. When someone rounded the corner, I fired off a shot of Ice and they dodged.

Then I realized who it was. "Sukura!?" "Pengu?" we both started talking at once as we ran towards each other. Sukura grabbed me in a fierce hug and swung me around in a circle before putting me down on my feet. "So you can control ice?" he said stating the obvious.

"Yep. So what's the deal with the flowers?" at my question he snorted and the flowers beside him seemed to shake with mirth. "Um well they just kind of grabbed me." he said a smirk playing on his muzzle and his tails were wagging with happiness at seeing me. I admit my tail was wagging so fast that it was a blur.

Our happiness was short lived however, because a seemingly endless mass of guards appeared from thin air. They opened fire and Sukura made a flower dome around us. It was weird how all the bullets kept pinging off and hitting the floor. When the last spent bullet cartridge dropped to the floor he lowered the dome and I shoved ice out in a giant wave freezing about 20 soldiers in one go.

Flowers raced across the ground and several soldiers screamed as they where pierced by razor-sharp petals. Then I heard a rumbling sound and the wall to the left of the soldiers exploded and a jeep ran over several soldiers before it exploded. Before we could defend ourselves we were both against a back wall do to the concussion from the blast.

I grunted while beside me Sukura peeled himself off the wall then turned to help me out. as he did two people got off snow mobiles and ran toward turned around so fast I'm surprised he didn't get whiplash. He was about to impale the new intruders when he recognized them.

"Greg? Marsey? What in the hell are you two doing here?" he asked as he grabbed my paw. The guards began to stir. "You know what on second thought I don't care" He started running and I fell into step behind him. With his free hand he grabbed the woman's arm and as I passed I grabbed the man's Sukura hauled us along until we reached a couple of snow mobiles. The woman jumped on one and the man followed her while Sukura jumped on the second one. I got behind him my arms around his middle as he started the engine and we took off after the human couple in front of us.

_Several hours later... _

(Sukura)

I pried my stiff paws off the snowmobile and slowly got off the machine. Behind me I heard Pengu groan and an audible pop when he straightened his back. I led the way into the ski lodge and let the adults handle the room arrangements. When Greg and Marsey came back Greg tossed me a key which I caught out of reflex. I then headed up stairs to the room that me and Pengu would share.

Once they got there I offered to let Pengu shower first while I went to go talk to my foster parents. "Sure" said Pengu blushing a little. I stepped close to Pengu and on impulse I pecked Pengu's cheek giving him a light kiss before stepping back and walking out of the room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order or any of the shows affiliated with it. Law and Order and all of its rights are the exclusive of the USA network.**

(Sukura)

Once I was outside my room, I yawned then started walking down to my foster parent's room. I knocked on the door and stood back leaning against the railing of the stairs while I waited. The door handle jiggled as someone gripped it from the other side and Greg opened the door holding a twenty-dollar bill When he saw me he stood back so I could come in., "I was expecting room service because we just ordered dinner." he mumbled as I stepped past him into the room.

"I hope you enjoy your meal." I said while Greg closed the door. "Thank You I'm sure we will. Where is your wolf friend?" "He is taking a shower at the moment." I said sitting down on the recliner and Greg took the seat across from me. "Did you meet him at school?" "Yes. I met him during my first day and we became fast friends." "I think you two are more than friends" I blushed bright red at that statement but I did not deny it. "Yes I've grown to care about him over the course of the last few weeks." I said.

Greg smiled and passed me a fresh twenty-dollar bill from his wallet. "Go get some food" he said and I nodded before leaving the room. In the hall, I passed the room service cart and felt my stomach growl in protest. I forced myself to keep walking to my room as the attendant's jaw dropped. I opened the door when I reached the room and then locked it behind me. I could not hear the shower so I assumed that Pengu was getting dressed. I felt somewhat warm all of a sudden so I took my shirt off and sat on the bed turning on the TV and flipping through the channels.

(Pengu)

The shower felt amazing and I took my time drying off and dressing not really wanting to get out of the bathroom. Feeling pleasantly drowsy, I stepped into the room to see Sukura shirtless watching TV. I blushed when he looked up and caught me looking. He blushed redder than a cherry but his tails were wagging furiously behind him. I laughed and he smirked at me raising an eyebrow.

"Did you enjoy your shower?" he asked and I nodded. "Cool. How about you find something to watch on TV while I shower? Then after I get out we can order room service." "OK sounds like a plan." He started to get up when I asked. "How did it go with your parents?" He looked down as a red flush covered his face. "Um well it um went well" I knew he was not telling me something so I asked again. "What happened?" "Well um they figured out that... I'm gay and that I really like you"

Sukura glanced up to see my face before looking away embarrassed. "Did they take it well?" "Yeah at least Greg has I don't know about Marsey." Then I noticed something was missing "Hey where are your flowers?" Sukura gave me a funny look. "Don't ask me how but somehow they integrated into the wall." as he spoke, he pointed to the obvious designs in the wood. "Where is your Ice?" he asked and I pointed to the cup of water that appeared frozen solid. He nodded. "Well see ya after I get out of my shower." He handed me the remote as he walked by and I shivered fighting the urge to look at his bare chest again. _"__**Damn he looks good**__" _I thought once the bathroom door closed behind him.

I walked over to the bed and threw myself back on it reclining against the pillows. I flipped through the TV channels and found some old Law and Order reruns. While I watched them, I heard the water turn on in the bathroom and head Sukura's slight moan of pleasure from the hot water. I giggled covering my muzzle with my paws hoping Sukura did not hear me.

I heard him move around in the shower and I assumed he was bathing. My imagination bloomed with vivid pictures and I blushed a deep red thankful that Sukura could not hear or see my thoughts. Inside the Bathroom, the water shut off and after a few minutes Sukura was walking into the room towel drying his head fur.

I patted the bedding beside me and he dove into it making the water mattress slosh and jiggle. I laughed at his antics as he started tickling my side. "St-stop tickling me!" I said shrieking with laughter. He stopped and lay down beside me and I moved to lay my head on his chest. He murred softly but did not stop me. _"__**This is comfortable."**_ I thought moving around a bit until I got settled.

Sukura started scratching me around my ears as we watched TV and I started murring softly and my tail started wagging because if felt good. Sukura did not seem to realize what he was doing or if he did realize it he must be pretending not to notice.

The TV show faded into the background as I snuggled up to Sukura and smiling he turned off the TV before wrapping his arms around me. I felt exhaustion overcome me and I fell asleep in his arms.

(Sukura)

I managed to stay up a bit longer then Pengu but he looked so cute when he was sleeping. I smiled before I too drifted off to sleep hugging him close to me as the night progressed.

When I woke up in the morning, I smiled seeing that Pengu wrapped in my arms. I carefully let go of him moving slowly so I did not wake him. Then my stomach growled loudly and I froze waiting to see if Pengu would wake up. He turned over on his side but stayed asleep and I sighed before jumping into the shower.

The hot water felt good against my fur and blasted the last traces of sleep from my mind. I started to lather up when thoughts of Pengu entered my head. I grinned to myself feeling a jerk from the south. I shook my head and mentally scolded myself. Then I started to wash off the soap and shampoo enjoying the way the warm water affected my cramping muscles.

I stepped out to dry off and then shrieked like a girl as I saw the cherry blossoms had completely covered the door from this side. "_What? It's not like we can see you." "__**Still Don't DO that. Give me more of a warning next time."**_ I thought moodily glaring at the flowers. **_"So what are you doing in here anyway? Do you need some food or something? _**"_Yes we need some water and then we will be good for a while." _I frowned as I pulled on my pants. _"__**Don't you need sunlight to make food as well?**_**"** _"Yes we do but we can get that on the way back to your home." _ I nodded and finished dressing. I started to drag a comb through my fur grunting when it snagged.

There was a knock on the bathroom door and Pengu asked, "Hey Sukura is everything ok in there?" His voice was husky with sleep and I blushed struggling to answer while my mind went into the gutter. "I'm fine. The flowers are stalking me." I managed to say. I heard a yawn from the other side of the door. "Ok when you get done I'm going to shower." "OK Back up I'm coming out" I told him and opened the door. I started combing my fur again as the flowers would themselves around my tails.

I smiled sweetly at Pengu before stepping aside so he could shower. There was a knock on our door and I tilted my head before I recognized the scent. "Hold On I'm coming." I called out and made sure the bathroom door closed before going to unlock the door. I stepped back and let in my foster parents before going back to my grooming.

(Marsey)

_**He seems to be doing ok**_ I thought to myself as I watch him comb his fur. If it were not for the flowers that wrapped around his tails, you would have never known that he recently escaped from a sadistic lab.

When the wolf came out, I watched with interest while the two of them interacted. My son seemed to be very protective over him but he also seemed sweet on the boy. I had lost the thread of conversation while I made my observations so when the two of them looked at me I said, "I'm sorry could you repeat the question?" "What time are we leaving to head home?" asked Sukura "Just as soon as we all eat breakfast." I answered and then laughed as both boys' stomachs growled in protest. "Yeah we didn't eat last night we were so tired. Oh and Pengu these are my parents Greg and Marsey" Pengu looked at Sukura and then back at us. "Well ok Foster parents but still" said Sukura catching his glance.

Greg ordered for us and soon piping hot plate of eggs, sausage, and bacon were delivered. The boys dug into the food and wolfed it down (pardon the pun)

(Pengu)

After I finished eating, I watched Sukura with his family and then jumped about a foot when he grabbed my paw. I blushed looking down at our joined paws then looked into his clear blue eyes. They were shining with understanding and a bit of embarrassment.

When the two adults finished Greg cleared his throat before telling us that we needed to go. I nodded and when Sukura stood up, I followed him from behind. He shivered and half turned flashing me a small smile that made my heart skip a beat. He must have felt my gaze as I let my eyes travel over his well-muscled shoulders.

When we made it into the hall Sukura hurriedly pressed me against the wall as a kid ran by making a slight breeze pass through the hall. Seeing him frown after the kid as he eased away from me I once again marveled at how much he affected me. _**"Why do I feel like this? I really want to be with him. It feels like I am incomplete when we are not together **_**I **thought to myself. As we walked outside to the car, the snow seemed to sense my inner turmoil because it reached out and touched my mind. _"Are you alright? Do you need help?" _ I was just about to answer when Sukura's flowers sent two vines that rested on the back of his neck. He stopped for a second and I almost ran into him. "Hey Sukura why are they doing that?" I asked him and he held up a paw motioning for me to give him a few seconds. "What did you say Pengu?" I repeated my question and he said. "They keep bugging me about getting them some water I honestly forgot about it."

I nodded and thought to the ice "Can_** you turn into a small puddle of water?"**_ I got an affirmative feeling from the ice and the flowers flowed from Sukura's tails hungrily drinking u the water into their root system then of course, they were stuck in the ice. Sukura and I burst out laughing at that and then he bent down and slowly teased them free of the ice block.

Then we headed to the car and slipped into the back seat. We both had trouble with the belt buckles but when we finally got them clicked into place Greg started the car but the engine did not catch. He tried again and it coughed weakly before starting. I sighed with relief and turned to my right to see Sukura meditating. I was surprised but I did not interrupt him, instead I took the chance to study his body without him knowing.

I heard a cough from the front seat and jumped before looking at Marsey feeling my face burning from getting caught. She just smiled and wiggled her eyebrows at me. I gave what i hoped was a confused smile and then leaned back to close my eyes.

_Several hours later..._

(Sukura)

I stretched grunting when I got out of the car. My meditation had helped me relax during the trip and now I felt lighter and more focused then before. Still my legs and my tails were numb so I took several minutes to stretch them out ignoring the looks of fright and shock I was getting. When the security person walked up, I did not even bat an eye. However when he tried to stab me with his shock-baton I dove to the side and landed lightly on my feet. "What did I do?" I asked innocently.

"Freak" he muttered lunging at me again. I danced away from him finding myself against the wall. More guards closed in while Marsey and Greg looked on hopelessly. I sighed in exasperation and gave him the finger before the flowers on my back tied up ever guard in sight and held them tightly. _**Thanks**__"No Problem" _they replied sounding happy. I walked through the little x-ray gate thing and came out on the other side. The crowd was still frozen but when I gave a pointed look at Greg and Marsey, they walked over to me with Pengu. "I attract so much attention." I said to Pengu looking down at my claws pretending to buff them on my fur. He laughed and said. "They are just jealous of you." I laughed with him "That's right they want this thick luxurious fur." I said striking a pose.

We managed to make it to the plane ok and it took off without incident. Still the looks I got from the flight attendant made me wish I had made cherry blossom wings and flew home. Pengu was holding my paw tightly trying to ease my tension. I was grateful for the effort and shared a smile with him when our eyes met by chance. I spent the rest of the flight thinking about my parents and how things could be different if they were actually alive.

When we landed I stumpled down the steps. I had forgotten how stiff sitting down for 10 hours straight makes you. I bit back a yelp as pins and needles flowed throught my tails as the blood flow returned. I looked behind me to see Pengu in a similar situation. He was trying to wag his tail but it was so stiff that he couldn't move it without whimphering. The adults seemed to be doing better so I tapped Pengu on the back and pointed to them. Greg and Marsey had already collected their bags and when we got into the car the jet lag hit me and Pengu and we went to sleep as the car started moving.

When we woke up we were at our home so I led Pengu inside and showed him around. He would be sharing my room with me. "Boys we are leaving to go get Travis" said Marsey as they went out the door. I hoped they got a chance to sleep on the ride. I meanwhile felt refreshed so I went to the kitchen and started fixing a glass of orange juice. "Hey can I get you anything?" I asked looking at Pengu "Um I would like some water if that's OK" I nodded and started making it getting some ice from the fridge and then getting the water from the tap.

I put the glass down on the counter and Pengu slid it towards himself. I pulled out a stool and sat across from him leaning my arms on the table while taking a small sip of my juice. I offered him a few crackers from the sideboard and he took them nibbling on one. I watched for a bit then got some for myself and startend eating them as well.

"So what happened to you at the lab?" I asked curiously. Pengu swallowed the cracker he had in his mouth and took a sip of water to clear his throat before he started. "Some woman was trying to seduce me and then some dude came in and tried something on me and it didn't work. He had the woman start singing and I slashed her throat then a gas canister dropped from his belt and he froze solid. then the ice started obeying me."

I nodded "Same thing with me Some guy mind controlled me and I went nuts. Then when I woke up again I was in the garden and the flowers were unleashing hell on their creators. Then the cherry blossoms grabbed me and I chose them as my affinity. Then we busted out of there."

Both of us shuddered slightly at the memories from the past few days then we headed into the living room and passed out on the couch.


	8. Chapter 8

(Marissa)

**Location: woods behind the school**

**Time of day: Night**

The shadows from the trees coated my slim figure in a gentle embrace as the wind moved through the treetops surrounding the clearing. I was in the forest behind the school waiting for my sisters as I clutched my purple cloak closer to my body to deter the cold from torturing me. My lavender eyes danced in the moonlight while my white hands seemed to glow under it. My skin was smooth and the blue nail polish on their tips had flecks of gold within reminding me of the purpose of tonight's gathering.

Tonight we are going to appoint the head witch of the coven. I clench my hands taking comfort in the small pain that kisses the palms of my hands when I do. It helps me focus and allows me to calm down. The wind blows through my brown curly hair and I laugh as it tries to tease my hair free of its ponytail. Then almost as if my laugh had summoned them, the others started to emerge from the night. First was Amy with her red cloak our Fire Witch. Then came Marie with a blue cloak the Water Witch behind her and slightly to her left was Emma the Earth Witch then finally dressed in a white cloak Ember the Light Witch. In case you have not figured it out I am the Spirit Witch and I complete our circle.

Quickly the six of us step into our circle formation with me at the center with Ember. Then the initiates wearing grey cloaks form an awkward group just outside out circle. Each witch in this circle except for me had pupil that also had her elemental talent. If their mentor left the circle then the pupil was supposed to fill their shoes until their Mentor returned or until they decided to leave. Having just started school here this year I was pleasantly surprised to find some of my fellow students practiced the craft. Ember was out leader we all just followed her lead since she has been in the craft since she was two. Her grandmother a wise Crone (One of the Head Witches extremely powerful and they can live until they choose their successor) taught Ember everything she knew.

Ember will be leaving us tomorrow so tonight is an emergency meeting. Around the circle, the others were taking hold of their candles so I grabbed mine as well and waited. Ember starts summoning the circle and I listen with respect as she approaches Amy and starts to send for Fire "Fire the night is cold and we need your warmth tonight. Guide us in your decision and help chase away our fears."

When she finished speaking Amy's candle danced to life flickering with purple flames that licked around Amy's skin and lighting her joyful face. Ember moves on to Marie "Water wash away our uncertainty and calm our hearts tonight" She lit Marie's candle and the sounds of the ocean could be heard and a tinge of salt was upon the breeze.

She stepped over to the Earth Witch and said "Mother Earth guide us with your wisdom and share with us your strength." she lit Emma's candle and the smells of hay and cut grass entered the air. I took a deep breath to enjoy the scents before composing myself. Ember approached me and I held on to my purple candle tightly.

"Spirit calm our souls and bring us peace." She lit my candle and I felt a sudden surge of joy deep within my soul that made me want to dance with glee. She smiled at me and I smiled back full of my element. She then moved just behind me so that we were back to back. "Light you chase away the darkness and give us hope." Ember lit her candle and there was an audible sound of relief as the circle completed.

Once the circle is complete, no one could cross its barriers. All outside influences are nullified. Unfortunately, for me my element _was not _an outside source. I could feel the element beginning to get restless then before I could build any type of defense, it swallowed my mind.

Images of two Furries flashed repeatedly through my head while I went to my knees trying not to black out. I am sure my normal brown eyes were now completely purple with no pupil visible. When the images faded, I took several deep breaths and looked up to see Ember with her hand outstretched towards me. "What did you see?" She asked her head tilted in concern.

I hesitated before answering. "I saw two Furries I can't tell what their gender is thought. It was a fox and a wolf." She nodded and I caught my breath before standing up again. Ember began to go ahead with the meeting and told everyone to select one rune. The one that had the rune of death would be the new head Witch. I picked hurriedly without hesitation because I wanted to get out of this meeting and try to get my head straight. When I glanced down at the rune stone, my heart was caught in my throat. Sensing my reaction Ember asked me to show my rune to the group and trembling I did so. A collective gasp rose from the assembled group and I frowned feeling slightly ticked.

**_Therefore, I am the new head witch_** I thought to myself as Ember closed the circle and we started leaving. I wrapped my element around myself and became nothing more than a shadow of the night while I headed back to my room. I was nearly caught twice by the hall monitors, as I was not really paying attention. I collapsed into my bed and let my thoughts wander to my vision before falling asleep.

(Pengu)

I heard the front door handle jingle and quickly sat up. My movement woke Sukura who stretched and yawned before sitting up behind me. I quickly untangled my legs from his and moved over on the couch so that we had some space between us.

Sunlight from the windows streamed into the house and highlighted the carpet in various places. When the door opened, I saw a boy that looked a bit younger than Sukura walk tiredly into the house. Behind him, Greg and Marsey seemed to be almost zombies from lack of sleep. Travis plopped down in the lazy boy recliner and was soon snoring while Greg and Marsey slowly made their way up stairs dragging their feet.

I watched in silence until they were out of sight then I moved close to Sukura and put my muzzle close to his ear. "Could you show me your room?" I asked and he nodded grabbing my paw and quietly heading up the stairs and turning to the right. His room had a nice brown carpet and the single bed looked like it had never been slept in.

The walls were a blend of dark blue and hot pink mixed together. The dark colors gave this room a comfortable well-used look and I felt myself at ease. When Sukura moved into the room if it was not for the nice contrast he made against the carpet I would have lost sight of him. He grinned flashing his canine teeth at me before pointing to his bed.

I got the hint and after I closed the door, I went to sit down on it. He pulled up a beanbag chair that I did not notice when I looked through the room and sat on it. "Well what do you think?" he asked me watching my face for a reaction. "You room looks nice. Are you sure you don't mind sharing with me?" "I don't mind at all; I enjoy your company." I blushed and he giggled wagging his tails. I tilted my head and closed my eyes as I heard him laugh.

I decided that I liked the way it sounded and the warm feeling started bubbling up in my chest while I listened. "You OK Pengu?" Sukura asked and when I opened my eyes, I saw him giving me a concerned look. I blushed and said, "Um yeah I'm fine I just like hearing you laugh."

I looked away from him as I spoke expecting him to make fun of me. Instead, the bed creaked and I felt his arms around my waist. "That's sweet" He said softly as he held me. "So you're not gonna make fun of me?" I asked holding my tail. "I would never do that." he released the hug, which made me whine a bit with longing. What he said next made my heart skip a beat. "I Love you Pengu and I would never ever do anything to hurt you." I turned around just to make sure he was telling the truth. I saw the truth of his words in his eyes and when he opened his arms to me, I gratefully fell into them and melted into his embrace.

(Sukura)

I murred as I held Pengu and nuzzled his cheek with mine breathing in his scent and wagging my tails furiously. I bent down to kiss him and hesitantly pressed my muzzle against his. When he did not draw back from the contact, I began to lead slowly opening our muzzles while darting my tongue into his muzzle eliciting a slight moan from Pengu.

I blushed with him while I enjoyed the amazing taste of his tongue. I broke it off then to breathe and panted while looking down at him. **_Mate _**I thought as he began to turn bright red. "That was good" I said leaning back a little so I could look him in the eyes. He nodded and I saw that his tail wagging behind him which made me smile. Pengu tilted his head "What?" he asked I pointed at his wagging tail "Seems you enjoyed it too."

**ROMANCE FINISHED YOU MAY RESUME READING**

Then as if on cue, my stomach rumbled and I grumbled while Pengu burst out laughing. I got up from the bed and moved toward the door. The knob started to turn before I reached it and when it opened, I saw Travis outside my door. "Hey bro, I was just about to go make my lunch." I said as I stepped back to let him into my room. "Mom and Dad are still asleep." he mumbled before collapsing into the bean bag chair.

"Could I get you some coffee?" I asked raising an eyebrow. Travis did not say anything so I shrugged and asked Pengu "Could I get you some water or something to eat? I'm just gonna make a salad if we have enough lettuce to go around." "Sure a salad seems fine." he said and I mock bowed before I left the room. In the kitchen, I collected 2 glasses and filled them with water then added some watermelon kiwi flavoring to mine.

Then I popped out my claws before grabbing the lettuce and celery. I grabbed two bowls and started slicing into the lettuce with my claws. Once I thought we had enough I diced up the celery. I washed my claws off under the faucet before searching out some chicken from the fridge. I carefully cut that into small pieces after I cooked it in the microwave and divided it evenly into each bowl.

I topped both salads with a generous amount of Ranch dressing and then cheese and croutons. I put the salad fixings away and with my tails, grabbed two forks while washing my paws and sheathing my claws. I carried both bowls upstairs and barely managed to hold the glasses of water in my tails. I did spill a little water on my tails but it would dry off.

I knocked on the door and when Pengu opened it I asked "Could you take the salads?" he nodded and I transferred them over to him. I pointed to my desk and he got the message setting them down over there. I managed to get the glasses of water down safely then finally passed him his fork. I started tossing my salad while watching Pengu stirring his.

"It has chicken, lettuce, celery, cheese, and croutons on it the dressing is Ranch." I said while taking a bite of chicken and lettuce crunching slightly as I ate. When Travis groaned for the corner I looked up from my meal "I did offer to make you something you know." I said in defense. He waved me off and groaned again. "So while were were in white-coat hell where were you?" I asked "I stayed in the country on a farm. I had to wake up at 1:00 in the morning to feed the chickens and milk the cow."

"That must have been pretty rough on you." I said and finished my meal. "Maybe you should get more sleep" said Pengu from behind me and I nodded my agreement. "Maybe later; do you know when we are heading back to school?" "Um no I don't" I heard movement from across the house and figured that Marsey and Greg were slowly waking up. It was midday by now and birds chirped outside the window. I walked over to my radio and clicked it on hoping to find a news station. I searched for several minuets and when I got nothing but static I shrugged and turned it off.

"Well why don't we look on the school website?" I said looking pointedly at Travis. He got the memo and pushed himself out of the bean bag chair. I followed him downstairs with me and Pengu's dirty dishes. While he turned on the computer I went into the kitchen and washed up the dishes then put them in the side rack to dry. I started the coffee pot for Greg and Marsey then peaked into the living room to See that Travis had just opened the Internet browser. Pengu was behind him looking over his shoulder.

Travis was reading something off the screen when the two adults stumbled into the room and made a beeline for the coffee pot. They looked like caffeine deprived zombies and I couldn't help but laugh. I felt Pengu tap my shoulder and I tilted my head in a question. "School starts back at 2:00 today." I looked at the clock and then at Pengu and my foster-brother. "We should start packing then."

**Two Hours Later**

I had just managed to get my trunk up the staircase when a door close to my dorm room flew open and before I could react I was yanked into the room. "Finally you get here" said a voice. The voice sounded annoyed like I had missed an appointment.

When I got my bearings I saw a girl with brown hair dressed in a purple cloak. "Who are you and why did you grab me like that?" "Marrissa The Head Witch of the Elemental Coven. You keep showing up in my dreams fox boy. Care to explain why?" I didn't like her tone and my muzzle wrinkled back exposing a single canine as I growled.

She just smirked at me and I would have lunged at her if the curious design on the floor had not caught my eye. I was standing in the middle of a Pentagram and that realization was enough to calm me down. "A pentagram Seriously?" I said.

In my trunk were the flowers and I doubted they would be able to help. Something Marrissa had said before floated through my mind "_**Elemental Coven" Hmmm I wonder what would happen if I try to send for an Element to bust me out of here. **_**So what are the elements? Air, Fire, Water, Earth, and there is one more but I don't know it. **I decided to try to send for Air to the circle and a sudden strong wind whipped through the dorm room.

Marrissa looked pleased while I gave her a death glare. "_**Air get me out of here!"**_ a glass of water on the dresser tipped and then splashed all over the chalk outline of the circle rendering the barrier useless or so I thought. I went to step over where the circle used to be and smashed into a wall. Some very colorful words fell from my lips just then and Marrissa smirked.

I sighed and popped out my claws determined to scratch my way out. I swung out with all my might at the barrier my claws shining briefly as I made my first hit. Marrissa grunted and I drew back. **So every-time I hit the barrier she takes the impact. Which means I got to keep this up until she passes out. **"Your determined aren't you?" She muttered and made a gesture at me. I felt something slip around my body and looked down.

Glowing purple chains covered me. However the didn't feel quite solid. Still I couldn't move my body. However that didn't mean I couldn't move my mind. **Fire Water Earth Come to me! **I all but screamed inside my head. Marrissa Held her head like she had suddenly got the world's worse migraine. I meanwhile felt like I was going to burn up and leave a pile of ashes behind. Power coursed through my body and set my fur on edge.

I gritted my teeth against the onslaught and tried to tame this wild energy. I blinked and blinked again just to make sure I didn't have anything in my eye. I was standing over a black expanse of nothing. Just above this expanse hovered a circle that was surrounding me. The elements were screaming and snarling while they hurled themselves against a barrier Almost as if they were trapped. I could feel the mind of each element as they desperately tried to escape.

I soon realized that my fear and desperation had caused this wild rabble and strove to calm myself. The elemental beasts slowly calmed down as well and then as if by magic the spell broke and the circle and barrier vanished. The elemental beasts faded from existence and I found myself outside of the circle blinking. "What the heck just happened?" I asked aware of an arm on my shoulders. Then Pengu's scent hit my nose and I heard him whimper. The girl meanwhile had a black eye. I decided not to ask and turned around and hugged Pengu tight not liking the way he was shaking.


	9. Chapter 9

(Marrissa)

I was shocked that the fox had managed to get out of my circle and now I did not care that my left eye was beginning to swell. I was carefully watching the two furries interact. "Well that was impressive." I said aloud and the fox spared me a glance full of venom before he made to open the door. I made a gesture like the one you make when yanking on a string and the locking rune on the door came to life. The fox turned back to me and then looked at the door and back at me again. He sighed and shared a look with the wolf. A look of understanding briefly lit the wolf's face before the wolf shot something at me. I was too tired to bother with a barrier rune and it struck me in the middle and made its way towards my mouth. I suddenly felt very could and realized that I was encased in ice from my torso up. My head was free but in a few more seconds that would not matter. I managed to link to the coven. **_HELP ME!_** I sent in panic and felt the members of the coven come running to my dorm room.

"Let us go or you will suffocate under the ice." growled the Fox. He pronounced each word carefully as if I would not understand. "I don't ride the short bus thank you." I spit out my temper flaring. That was the wrong move on my part. Before I could blink, the Fox was in front of me and he had his claws out. "I would hate to scar that pretty little face of yours." he hissed putting his claws just under my chin forcing me to look up at him or be impaled. "You'll be sorry" I muttered, "I doubt that" he retorted and took a step back. "Remove the rune from the door."No" as I spoke, I sensed the coven just behind the door and I let the rune fall silent.

(Amy)

"OK girls let round it up!" As I spoke each girl in the hall held a small bubble of their elemental power to their chest. I carefully set my bubble in the center of our group and one by one everyone added their bubble to the mix creating a big white floating sphere. Then I reached out with my senses to detect any type of magic on the other side of the door. I found a rune on the door and that the New Head Witch frozen in a block of ice. Then I felt the rune on the door give out and with a gesture, I made the door open then gathered myself and threw the orb of power inside.

"NOOO!" I heard someone scream before the explosion. Our group was blown against the wall and I groaned. **_I guess I forgot that part of the plan_**I thought to myself while my body merged with the brickwork. I coughed my chest burning from the impact. My back felt like it was on fire and my head felt like it crushed in. The stupid fire alarm was going off which only added to my pain.

The dorm room was a complete mess and nearly everything was in multiple pieces. There was a fox on the ground and the distinct smell of burnt fur. The fox stirred and growled loud as a wolf began to stir underneath him. The fox's ears where down and his sparkling canines made me gulp.

"YOU ********" By now several students were fearfully peeking out of their rooms and a few teachers had made it to the scene. The Fox stumbled a bit and the wolf leaned down to help him regain his balance. I took the opportunity to find the Head Witch while they were distracted. She was slumped against the wall out cold. I frowned disappointed that she had not evaded the blast.

Several teachers had entered the dorm room and the Fox and the Wolf roughly grabbed along with the stumbling Marissa. **_Well damn seems like I got them all in trouble._** I thought and made to follow them down the hall but blocked by a teacher. I stepped back and turned around making my way to the upper staircase.

Wordlessly the coven followed me from behind as I led the way to my room. Once there I collapsed on my bed and started thinking of a way to get our head witch out of trouble.

**_Meanwhile..._**

(Marrissa)

My head was spinning and all I could hear was the low growling from the Fox. When I screamed for help I didn't expect them to EXPLODE MY DORM ROOM! I was beyond furious I was pissed! If it were not for the teacher keeping a firm grip on my shoulders I would have gladly turned him into a toad and then went at it with the fox. Both furries had several people holding them and while the wolf remained calm, the fox was holding in barley-contained fury.

Because of the temper that he was in more teachers were holding him then the rest of the group altogether.

"Would it ever occur to you that instead of marching us down the hall like prisoners that it would be a good idea to have a physician look us over?" I words dripped with sarcasm and I saw the fox smirk a little. Instead of the Teachers answering me he did.

"Well as a teacher it is always best to blame those that are different from you. I bet they know that you practice the craft." I nodded taking in that information. It honestly would not surprise if they knew however it wasn't like they would be able to stop me. They _could_ make it more difficult but other than that, their actions were useless. "What of you wise old vixen?" I queried

"Oh that one is easy. If you have fur and your around something that went bad it's automatically your fault." I weighted that logic of that reply in my head while we walked ever closer to the headmaster's office. I decided that the furry had a valid point. A frown creased my face for a few seconds before I carefully schooled my expression into one of innocence.

Glancing over at the furries I saw that they were confused about why we were being taken to see the headmaster. "When stuff goes boom bad things happen kiddies." I muttered sarcastically.

"I don't recall seeing an explosion" claimed the fox.

"Then why was everything destroyed?" cross-examined the teacher. The fox raised his eyebrow.

"Hmmm maybe because it was an illusion?" he challenged sounding like the one trying not to laugh.

**_Smart fox _**I thought to myself. I sensed my coven had already magically fixed up my room so I decided to give them a non to subtle hint **_Amy you better have cast an illusion spell that made everything still look destroyed_** I sent via the Coven's mind link. I got a confused feeling from the other end but I also sensed the spell being made ready.

"Illusion?" "Yes it was nothing more than a glamor." **Therefore, our fox has a way with words **

The wolf was looking at his fellow furry with obvious confusion but then something seemed to click and he hastily straightened his face.

"Then remove the glamor and show us the place undamaged." Ordered the teacher behind the wolf and we were marched back the way we came. When we reached our destination, I grabbed for my magic while watching the fox.

He seemed to have a flare for the dramatic as he pretended to say some nonsense spell then gave me a covert look and with a wave of my hand the glamor was gone revealing my dorm room. It was completely normal; except for the few candles and a basket of eggs that had ribbons on them.

The teachers stomped down the hall and the fox sighed and leaned against the wall rubbing his head with his paws.

"You gonna be OK ?" I inquired watching him. He waved a paw at me idly in a shooing motion and turned towards the wolf whispering something to him. The wolf blushed a little but nodded his acceptance and started to head down the hall. The fox watched him leave the look on his face clearly stating that he would rather be following his friend. Then he turned his tired gaze to me, sighed before pushing off the wall, and as I stepped aside to let him enter he went into my room and plopped down on the edge of my bed.

"Since we got off on such a good start before let's try this again" he said "My name is Sukura. As you can see I'm a 9 tailed fox furry. I am 13 years old." He offered me his paw to shake and I took it in my hand feeling a little weird as the fur touched my skin. I gave it a quick shake then dropped his hand. I then glanced up at his face to see his eyes dancing with amusement. "Not used to fur?" he smirked and a smiled back at him.

"My name is Marissa. I am 14 and I'm human" I stuck out my tongue at the last part. He shook his head and then made to stand. "Well Marrissa it is nice to officially meet you." With that he walked out the door and closed it behind him. I heard his footsteps head down the hall and I stayed up for hours afterwards reliving the day.


	10. Chapter 10

(Sukura)

I knocked on the dorm room door to make sure that Pengu was decent. "Come in!" was heard from inside so I turned the knob and slipped inside.

"What a night." I said and Pengu nodded from his place on his bed. I jumped into mine and rested against the pillows. Pengu propped up his head on his pillows and I turned to look at him. "So now we have witches on campus. Perhaps it will prove interesting."

I nod and say "We still have class in the morning let us catch some rack time" With that both of us drifted off to sleep.

A blaring alarm clock screamed in my ears and I jumped about ten feet before looking at it and smashing the snooze button. The clock gives a squeal of protest but because it is reinforced, I cannot break it as easily as I could a normal clock. I move over to the dresser and pull out some clothes and start the sleepily get dressed as the water comes on in the bathroom and I assume that Pengu is taking a shower.

I stretch out my tails and flex my paws making my claws come out and then I resheath them before turning my back on the bathroom as Pengu comes out and from the sounds; I hear he is getting dressed. "You can look I'm decent." He says and I do as he says.

The school uniform seems to fit him just right and looking down at myself I see that I chose my brightest sky-blue and pink shirt along with some tie die pants that match. The bell rang signaling breakfast and I say that it is too late to change now.

We step outside into the hall to join the masses when something strange happens. Someone in the crowd points to us both and the crowd splits as If Pengu and I had shoved them into the wall. It starts slowly but clapping starts. Then a cheer, then a full-blown roar, which makes Pengu and me nearly deaf.

We stumble down the hall to the cafeteria met with more noise. So many people rush forward to shake our paws and many hands touch us. I begin to feel like a doll that is being passed from hand to hand because everyone must touch the doll they must do it to tell their friends about it and those friends tell their friends in succession.

Pengu and I make two circuits around the cafeteria sometimes close enough to touch paws sometimes so far away from each other that we can barely see each others eyes. Finally, the crowd puts us down and disperses.

I took a deep breath and then smell perfume. I glance behind us to see Marissa smirking. "Couldn't have rescued us with a spell Ms. Witch?" I ask ever so sweetly.

She responds in kind "Oh no my dear it was much more fun watching the show." I laugh and say "Oh but why didn't you give me a script?" she hands us both a thick book with a flourish. On the cover are our names than underneath that the name of the coven written in curly script finally in the center marked by a cherry blossom and a Fox face on mine and shiny canine teeth on Pengu's are the words:

Book of Shadows

I give Marissa a questioning look. "You know I was joking right?" she nodded "Welcome to the Elemental Coven. Every member needs his or her own Book of Shadows. Use it to record your spells or just little bits of lore that you want to remember. Also that book will never run out of paper you can write in it until you die and it will still have plenty of unfilled pages."

"Well thanks then." the bell rang signaling we needed to head to our first class which was English. "See you at lunch Marissa."

We went down the hall to our English class and we both took a deep breath and held it as we stepped inside.

Nothing happened and I released my breath in a whoosh before taking my old seat in the back. Pengu takes the one across from me and the teacher Ms. Livingstone begins to pass out grammar worksheets. Everyone in the classroom groans and looks up at the ceiling as if the worksheets would vanish when they look down.

I peek and every worksheet is still there so I sigh and get to work burying my head in complex comma splices and quotation marks. By the time I finish my tails are lashing back and forth behind me and my head hurts from the effort. I glance over to see that Pengu has just finished his worksheet as well so I hold out my hand for it indicating that I will take it up for him.

Our paws linger a second to long when he hands me the sheet so I am blushing as I head up to the teacher's desk to turn in the worksheet. She draws out her red grading pen ever so slowly as I walk back to my seat and as I turn, I see the vicious slashes and cuts she makes on the paper taking out her displeasure on our hard-earned work.

Each drop of red ink could be a thousand troops on the battlefield each mistake she finds is a quotation or comma splice soldier that died. So many soldiers have fallen in this battle that it is a wonder that the class is not in mourning.

I glanced at the clock and saw that we still had thirty minutes of class left and so I opened my grammar book and flicked through it to pass the time.

Beside me, Pengu seems to be doodling with a few colored pencils and his tail is wagging back and forth so at least he is finding a better way to pass the time.

I returned to my book and as I hear footsteps approaching I retract my tails as I always do so whoever it is can reach their locker behind us and then leave. I turn a page without noticing the footsteps have stopped and scan down the line of conjunctions. I say them to myself softly as I trace my finger down the list. With a flourish, the teacher slams down my bloody paper and grins shark like at me.

I jump and almost knock the desk over but quickly recover. She seems to take evident pleasure in loudly explaining each mistake on my worksheet. There is no laughter to go with her monotone only looks of sympathy from my fellow students.

Sadly, my temper ignites and I find myself speaking back to her. "Tell me where these worksheets were when I was being shot at? Would they have deflected bullets? Would they have kept me safe if I would have screamed quotations at the Strike Team? Would possibly knowing these damn things make me stronger when I fought those soldiers in hand to hand combat? No answer Ms. Livingstone; a pity I expected more."

She draws back her hand, a stinging slap sends my head snapping backwards, and my desk tumbles to the floor. Behind me, I hear growling but nothing else. I grow to realize that the growling I hear is my own mixed with Pengu's slightly softer tones.

I ever so slowly raise a paw to my face and assess the damage. Then I carefully get to my feet and calmly right the desk. I sit down as if nothing has happened as if I did not get bitch slapped but I was calmly discussing the finer points of grammar with a caring teacher.

Taking his cue from me, Pengu stops growling as well and though I have to bite my tongue before I begin, I manage to say "Thank you Ms. Livingstone for explaining that worksheet. Thanks to your help I will be able to do better in the future." my words echo in the silence and though the teacher has a victorious gleam in her eye as she moves to her desk, she still pauses at my next sentence.

"But I still fail to see how my failings need to be articulated to the entire class." My voice is calm and reasonable as if we are engaged in a friendly debate. I rest my paws on my desk as if it is a throne as she turns back around and gives me the most hideous look I have ever seen._ My face is stone, its marble and nothing will crack it _I tell myself as I return her gaze coolly.

Then the bell sounds interrupting our silent little standoff and the class lets out a collective breath. I keep an eye on her while I bend down to get my things and wait until the masses of students are between us before using them as a screen to get out into the hall. We lock eyes as I go out in the hall and the door closes between us before I let my facade drop and take a deep breath.

I am sure her hand print is on my muzzle and while where I was hit, radiates with pain and throbs as the cool air touches it.

"She will be gunning for us tomorrow but for the rest of the day I think it's best to become nothing more than smoke and mirrors in our classes. Good thing I didn't bring my flowers along to class or she would be dead." I muttered to Pengu on our way to Science Class.

We still had sometime before the bell so I ducked into the restroom and when I emerged from my stall after flushing the toilet I made my way to the sink to see just how much damage the slap had done.

It was on the right side of my muzzle and there was some discoloration there and some swelling. I moved my jaw experimentally and then with my tongue probed the teeth around the area. My gums were tender around the area of the swelling but my teeth all seemed to be fine. I cupped some water in my paws, took a sip, and swilled it around my mouth. I spit it out and thought that it was nothing that would not heal on its own.

I came out and then started to run to class as the bell rang and the teacher Mr. Burt was closing the door. He held it open for me but I still was marked tardy on his clipboard.

It is of little consequence to me. We were covering the anatomy of the human body and though Pengu and I were decidedly not human, we did find it an interesting study.

Then again, I do not think out science teacher ever intended for us to use this knowledge on anything but the end of the year exams. Though I do not recall using any of the information we covered in this class during the shooting I am sure someone will find an excuse to bring it up.

A girl dressed in blue from head to toe waves at us and when class begins, she shares our lab table. "I am Marie from the Elemental Coven I control the water element." she told us and I shook her hand in my paw before turning my attention to Mr. Burt as he started to lecture after clearing his throat.

"Well today class we are going to split up. Girls you go with Mrs. Elsie into the next room and Guys you will stay with me." he intoned. The class split up and though Pengu and I were men, we still found ourselves looking at the teacher questionably.

On the corner of my paper, I scrawled a short note to Pengu and slid it to him. "_Surely he isn't going to discuss their bits?" _He bit back a giggle stuffing his paws over his muzzle until he had control of himself. He wrote back "_he very well might be. I wonder how different ours are from theirs"_ I nodded my head and wrote, "_Well it can't be that different. Which reminds me what are we going to do about Furry Anatomy Class? The Owl flew the coop." _Pengu shrugged indicating that he had no answer.

During out little exchange the teacher was waiting for the class to settle down. A diagram of human male genitals flashed up behind him from the projector and Pengu and I shared a loaded look before I raised my paw into the air. "Sir may we be excused? This doesn't have anything to do with us."

He did not answer but hit the projector two more times causing the human bits to slide into the far right and Fox furry bits to show in the center and wolf bits to show in the far left.

Pengu and I blushed down the roots of our fur. The other boys reacted in surprise then glanced back at me and Pengu so fiercely it felt like we were being eye raped.

The teacher coughed and spoke "We will be covering the genitals of ALL the boys in the class so no you may not be excused. You will be tested on each one. I hope you are well prepared."

The teacher started pointing out this and that on the human anatomy and Pengu and I took notes as fast as we could.

When the teacher reached my picture, I zoned out. An audible gasp came from the other boys when they learned that I had a knot at the base of my cock and that if I tied with a girl (which I never would) I would be stuck inside her for half an hour.

I instead just held Pengu's paw under the table as he endured the same thing. Thankfully, class finishes after he gives the lecture and Pengu and I bolt from the room not wanting to have to deal with the embarrassing situation any longer.

We made it to our next class, which was Math in record time. As a result, we got the most classwork. The rest of the class groaned with us as we finished each new scrap of paper because that meant we had just added to their workload.

The next class was study hall So Pengu and I took our notes from today's Science class and quizzed each other silently. A teacher was making rounds across the room but they never strayed towards us.

The time dragged and soon Pengu and I had memorized our notes and could recite them. We glanced around the room bored. The circling teacher sniffed the air and his nostrils flare almost as if he could scent the boredom in the air and stopped his rounds. He faced the class with a shark like grin. As one, the class recoiled from him and watched him wearily. He seemed to have a bit of a flair for the dramatic so it was funny when with a simple gesture from a girl he was unable to open his mouth.

I laughed with the rest of the class but I turned towards the girl and raised an eyebrow. However, she was too busy giggling to notice. I sighed and turned to Pengu and whispered. "I can't do anything to stop her and this IS funny. Still I might bring it up to Marisa later." He nodded and briefly gave my paw a squeeze before letting go.

"The teacher was busily clawing his face as if he was trying to pull invisible tape off of his face so I bit the very tip of my paw and walked over to him. I held him loosely in my tails, a single drop of blood sizzled in the air before him, and the magic became undone. He shoved me back from him screaming and I flipped over a desk.

Pengu helped me up and I brushed myself off rolling my eyes. "Seriously what is it with everyone wanting to shove me am I that frightening?" I said it loud enough that my question echoed throughout the study hall.

I gave Pengu a small smile then gathered my books and stuff as the echoing silence continued. "Caio" I said waving and heading off early to lunch. Pengu broke into a jog and followed me until he was beside me and grabbed my paw. "Seriously this is getting ridiculous." I said to him just before the bell rang.

We both jumped but we did manage to reach the end of the hall as the incoming tide engulfed us. For once I did not struggle against the masses but let them carry me while I kept a good grip on Pengu's paw.

In the lunch line I choose to eat a pork chop and macaroni along with green beans on the side and I grabbed 1% vanilla milk to complete my meal. I followed Pengu to our usual table only to find it occupied by Marrissa and her friends. There were two seats left so I pulled them out for us with my tails as soon as I was close enough.

"Ladies." I said respectfully as I sat.


End file.
